美术馆 (měi shù guǎn) — art gallery; art museum | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

art galleryart museum

Measure word · 座

Examples

美术馆。
Zhè ge měi shù guǎn yǒu hěn duō xiàn dài yì shù zuò pǐn.
This art gallery has many modern artworks.
美术馆。
Zhōu mò wǒ men qù měi shù guǎn kàn zhǎn lǎn ba.
Let's go to the art gallery to see the exhibition this weekend.
美术馆。
Zhè jiā měi shù guǎn miǎn fèi duì wài kāi fàng.
This art gallery is open to the public for free.

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.

美术fine art

美měibeauty术shùart

偏正Modifier + head

美 means beauty and 术 means art, forming 美术, and 馆 names a building for it.

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 術; 术 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

行行xíngstreet, path

Sound part声符shēngfú

朮

朮zhú術shù

Same sound today

The traditional form 術 has 行 (street, path) beside 朮, which gives the sound; the simplified 术 is a later shorthand.

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 館; 馆 is its simplified writing.

飠官館

Meaning part形符xíngfú

飠Written in full as食shí

Sound part声符shēngfú

官

官guān館guǎn

Same sound today

The traditional form 館 is made of 食, written as 飠 on the left, and 官 on the right; 官 provides the sound. The simplified 馆 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

Art & Fine Arts

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