空姐 (kōng jiě) — flight attendant, stewardess (colloquial) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Colloquial term for a female flight attendant, literally 'air sister'. 姐 here is an affectionate title, not a blood relative. The neutral written term is 乘务员.

noun

flight attendantstewardess (colloquial)

Measure word · 个

Examples

空姐。
Nà wèi kōng jiě de fú wù tài dù fēi cháng hǎo.
That flight attendant's service attitude was excellent.
空姐。
Tā dà xué bì yè hòu chéng le yì míng kōng jiě.
After graduating from university, she became a flight attendant.
空姐。
kōng jiě Tí xǐng chéng kè zài qǐ fēi qián guān bì shǒu jī.
The flight attendant reminded passengers to turn off their phones before takeoff.

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.

The 空 sense of air joins with 姐 as sister to name a female flight attendant.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

穴工空

Meaning part形符xíngfú

穴穴xuécave, hole

Sound part声符shēngfú

工

工gōng空kōng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

空 is built from 穴, a cave or hole, and 工, which gives the sound.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

女且姐

Meaning part形符xíngfú

女女nǚwoman

Sound part声符shēngfú

且

且qiě姐jiě

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The 女 part points to a woman, and 且 is a sound component.

Appears in

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