美人 (měi rén) — a beauty; a beautiful woman | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

a beautya beautiful woman

Measure word · 个

Examples

美人。
Tā shì yí wèi zhēn zhèng de měi rén.
She is a true beauty.
美人。
Gǔ dài shī rén men cháng xiě shī zàn měi měi rén.
Ancient poets often wrote poems praising beautiful women.
美人。
Zhè bù diàn yǐng lǐ de měi rén gěi wǒ liú xià le shēn kè yìn xiàng.
The beauty in this movie made a deep impression on me.

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.

美 gives beauty and 人 gives person, so a beautiful person.

Characters in this word

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

羊羊yángram or feathers
大大dàperson

美 shows 大, a person, wearing 羊, a headdress of feathers or ram's horn.

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Appears in

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