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起居室 (qǐ jū shì) — living room; sitting room

Definition

noun
living roomsitting room
Measure word · 间

Examples

  • 起居室，。
    Zhè jiān qǐ jū shì de chuāng hu hěn dà, cǎi guāng hěn hǎo.
    This living room has big windows and very good lighting.
  • 起居室。
    Kè rén men dōu zài qǐ jū shì lǐ liáo tiān.
    The guests are all chatting in the living room.
  • 起居室。
    Tā men bǎ qǐ jū shì bù zhì dé shí fēn wēn xīn.
    They decorated the sitting room to be very cozy.

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.

起居daily life
起qǐrise居jūdwell
联合Coordinate
室shìroom

起 and 居 refer to rising and dwelling, and together they name the room for daily living.

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
走走zǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
巳
巳sì起qǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

起 is made from 走 and 巳: 走 is the part connected with walking or running, and 巳 gives the sound.

Open 起 →

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
尸尸shī
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ居jū
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

居 is built from 尸 as the meaning part and 古 (gǔ) as the sound part.

Open 居 →

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
至
至zhì室shì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

室 puts 宀 (roof) over 至, the spot where someone stops, giving the meaning of a house or residence.

Open 室 →
Appears in
Rooms & Spaces

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