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衣冠 (yī guān) — formal attire, dress; (figurative) the appearance of a gentleman; (by extension) the gentry class

Definition

Literary/formal word for 'hat and clothes' — not everyday wear, but dress as a marker of status or refinement. Usually appears in set phrases like 衣冠楚楚 'neatly dressed' or 衣冠冢 'a tomb for one's garments'.

noun
formal attiredress(figurative) the appearance of a gentleman(by extension) the gentry class

Examples

  • 衣冠，。
    Tā chuān zhuó zhěng qí de yī guān, xiǎn de shí fēn yǒu lǐ mào.
    He wore neat formal attire and appeared very polite.
  • ，衣冠。
    Gǔ shí hou, yī guān dài biǎo le rén de shè huì dì wèi.
    In ancient times, dress and hat represented a person's social status.
  • 衣冠。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī hěn zhòng shì yuán gōng de yī guān xíng xiàng.
    This company places great importance on employees' dress and appearance.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

衣yīclothes
冠guānhat

衣 and 冠 mean clothes and hat, together referring to formal attire or the gentry.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 衣 comes from an outline of the chest and upper clothing.

Open 衣 →

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
冖冖mìhat
寸寸cùnhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
元
元yuán冠guàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

冠 shows a hand putting a hat on a head: 寸 is the hand, 冖 is the hat, and 元 is the head.

Open 冠 →
Appears in
Clothing

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