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选美 (xuǎn měi) — beauty contest; pageant

Definition

noun
beauty contestpageant
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 选美。
    Tā cān jiā le jīn nián de xuǎn měi bǐ sài.
    She took part in this year's beauty pageant.
  • 选美。
    xuǎn měi De guàn jūn kě yǐ huò dé hěn duō jī huì.
    The winner of the beauty contest can get many opportunities.
  • 选美。
    Zhè chǎng xuǎn měi xī yǐn le lái zì quán guó gè dì de xuǎn shǒu.
    This pageant attracted contestants from all over the country.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

选xuǎnselect
美měibeauty

选 (select) and 美 (beauty) combine: a contest that selects beauty.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 選; 选 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
止止zhǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
巽
巽xùn選xuǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 選 combines 止 with 巽, which gives the sound xùn; its sense of choosing is explained as rejecting or sending someone back. Simplified 选 is a shorthand.

Open 选 →

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

美 shows 大, a person, wearing 羊, a headdress of feathers or ram's horn.

Open 美 →
Appears in
Hobbies & PastimesSociety & Public Life

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