群芳 (qún fāng) — a multitude of flowers (literary); a bevy of beautiful women; a group of elegant ladies

Definition

Literary word for a gathering of beautiful flowers, and by extension a group of beautiful women. Mostly appears in classical or formal writing, not daily speech.

noun
a multitude of flowers (literary)a bevy of beautiful womena group of elegant ladies

Examples

  • ，群芳，。
    Chūn tiān lái le, yuán zhōng qún fāng jìng fàng, měi bú shèng shōu.
    Spring has come; the garden is full of blooming flowers — too beautiful to take in all at once.
  • 群芳，。
    Zhè bù xiǎo shuō miáo xiě le mín guó shí qī de yí dài qún fāng, gè yǒu fēng cǎi.
    This novel portrays a generation of beautiful women from the Republican era, each with her own charm.
  • ，群芳，。
    Zài xuǎn měi bǐ sài zhōng, qún fāng zhēng yàn, chǎng miàn shí fēn rè nao.
    At the beauty pageant, many beauties vied for attention; the scene was very lively.

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.

群qúngroup
芳fāngfragrant flowers

群 gives a group, and 芳 gives fragrant flowers, so it means many flowers or women.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
羊羊yáng
Sound part声符shēngfú
君
君jūn群
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

群 pairs 羊, a sheep, to point to a herd or group, with 君 giving the sound.

Open 群 →

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
艸艸cǎograss
Sound part声符shēngfú
方
方fāng芳fāng
Same sound today

芳 pairs 艸 (grass) with 方 (fāng); the 方 part gives the sound.

Open 芳 →

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