白昼 (bái zhòu) — daytime (formal/literary) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A formal, literary word for 'daytime', mostly seen in writing. Pair it with the everyday 白天 when you need a more elevated tone.

noun

daytime (formal/literary)

Examples

白昼。
Xià tiān de bái zhòu bǐ dōng tiān cháng.
Summer days are longer than winter days.
白昼，。
bái zhòu Shí fēn, jiē dào shàng xíng rén hěn duō.
During daytime, there are many pedestrians on the streets.
白昼。
Tā zǒng shì bào yuàn bái zhòu tài duǎn.
He always complains that the daytime is too short.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

白báibright/white

昼zhòudaytime

The brightness in 白 describes the daylight in 昼 as daytime.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

白 is thought to picture either an acorn or a human head.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 晝; 昼 is its simplified writing.

聿聿yù
日日rìsun

The traditional form 晝 pairs 日 (sun) with 聿, whose original meaning is unclear; the whole glyph was used for “daytime”.

Appears in

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