陌生人 (mò shēng rén) — stranger | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

stranger

Measure word · 个

，陌生人。
Zài mò shēng de chéng shì lǐ, wǒ yù dào le yí gè rè xīn de mò shēng rén.
In an unfamiliar city, I met a kind stranger.
陌生人。
Bú yào qīng yì xiāng xìn mò shēng rén de huà.
Don't easily trust what a stranger says.
陌生人。
Tā jǐng tì dì kàn zhe zhōu wéi de mò shēng rén.
He looked warily at the strangers around him.

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.

陌生unfamiliar

陌mòstrange生shēngunfamiliar

联合Coordinate

陌生 means unfamiliar, and 人 means person, so together they name an unfamiliar person.

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.

阝百陌

Meaning part形符xíngfú

阝Written in full as阜fù

Sound part声符shēngfú

百

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

陌 is built from 阝 on the left, the side form of 阜, and 百 on the right, which gives the sound.

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

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Appears in