翩翩 (piān piān) — (adjective) graceful, elegant (of movement or demeanor); (adverb) lightly, gracefully (dancing, fluttering, etc.)
Definition
Literary adjective for graceful, elegant movement (dancing, fluttering). Often appears as a set pattern 翩翩起舞 or 翩翩飞舞, not used for people in ordinary speech.
adjective
gracefulelegant (of movement or demeanor)
adverb
lightlygracefully (dancing, fluttering, etc.)
Examples
- 翩翩。Hú dié zài huā cóng zhōng piān piān fēi wǔ.Butterflies fluttered gracefully among the flowers.
- ，。Tā piān piān qǐ wǔ, xiàng yì zhī bái tiān é.She danced gracefully, like a white swan.
- 翩翩，。Luò yè piān piān, suí fēng piāo xiàng yuǎn fāng.Falling leaves drifted lightly, carried by the wind into the distance.
Origin
Single-morpheme word构词法gòucífǎ
叠音diéyīnRepeated syllable
One syllable written twice as a single unit of meaning; neither half stands alone.
翩piān
翩piān
In 翩翩, the repeated written parts do not each carry independent meaning; the whole form describes graceful, light movement.
Sound-only characters
Appears in
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