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美容 (měi róng) — to improve one's appearance (using cosmetics or cosmetic surgery)

Definition

The broad 'beauty care' verb — skincare routines, salon treatments, cosmetic surgery. 化妆 is just applying makeup; 美化 means to beautify something else (a place, image, plan).

verb
to improve one's appearance (using cosmetics or cosmetic surgery)

Examples

  • 美容。
    Tā měi zhōu dōu qù měi róng yuàn měi róng yí cì.
    She goes to the beauty salon for a treatment every week.
  • 美容。
    Xǔ duō nǚ xìng huā hěn duō shí jiān měi róng.
    Many women spend a lot of time beautifying themselves.
  • ，美容。
    Chú le hù fū, tā hái tōng guò shǒu shù měi róng.
    Besides skincare, she also beautifies herself through surgery.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

美měibeautify
容róngappearance

'美' beautify and '容' appearance together mean improving one's looks.

Characters in this word

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

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

Open 美 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀mián
Sound part声符shēngfú
公
公gōng容róng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 容, the 宀 (roof) part points to holding or containing, and 公 gives the sound.

Open 容 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Hygiene & Grooming

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