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行头 (xíng tou) — (noun) actor's costume and stage paraphernalia, especially in Chinese opera; (noun, informal) a person's outfit or wardrobe, often with a showy or deliberate feel

Definition

A showy outfit or stage costume — literally the costumes and props an actor wears. Colloquial sense: someone's striking or deliberate ensemble ("look at the getup on them!").

noun
actor's costume and stage paraphernalia, especially in Chinese opera(noun, informal) a person's outfit or wardrobe, often with a showy or deliberate feel
Measure word · 身

Examples

  • 行头。
    Tā chuān zhuó quán tào xíng tou shàng tái biǎo yǎn.
    He wore a full costume and went on stage to perform.
  • ，行头。
    Jīn tiān chū mén qián, tā jīng xīn zhǔn bèi le tā de xíng tou.
    Before going out today, she carefully prepared her outfit.
  • 行头。
    Zhè tào xíng tou shì tā cóng xì bān zi lǐ dài chū lái de.
    This set of costumes was brought out by him from the opera troupe.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

行xínggo out
头tóuthing

行 suggests what one wears when going out, 头 completes it into the costume and gear.

Characters in this word

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

  • 彳彳chì
  • 亍亍chù

The shape of 行 originally showed a street intersection, even on both sides. Later it became uneven, with 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right.

Open 行 →

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 頭; 头 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
豆
豆dòu頭tóu
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 頭 shows 頁, meaning head, beside 豆 as a sound component; the simplified 头 is a later shorthand.

Open 头 →
Appears in
Clothing

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