美国人 (Měi guó rén) — American (person) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

American (person)

Measure word · 个

Examples

美国人。
Tā shì yí wèi Měi guó rén.
He is an American.
美国人。
Hěn duō Měi guó rén xǐ huan hē kā fēi.
Many Americans like to drink coffee.
美国人。
Wǒ rèn shi sān gè Měi guó rén péng you.
I know three American friends.

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.

美国America

美měiAmerica国guócountry

偏正Modifier + head

美国 means America and 人 means person, so it names a person from America.

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.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 國; 国 is its simplified writing.

囗或國

Meaning part形符xíngfú

囗囗wéiclosure

Sound part声符shēngfú

或

或huò國guó

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

The traditional form 國 uses 囗 to show closure and 或 to give the sound.

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

Ethnic Groups & Nationalities

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.