面颊 (miàn jiá) — cheek | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

cheek

Measure word · 张

Examples

面颊。
Tā yòng shǒu mō le mō miàn jiá.
She touched her cheek with her hand.
面颊。
Tā qīng qīng qīn le qīn hái zi de miàn jiá.
He gently kissed the child's cheek.
面颊。
Lěng fēng bǎ tā de miàn jiá chuī dé hóng hóng de.
The cold wind blew her cheeks red.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

面 points to the face and 颊 to the cheek, combining into the word for cheek.

Characters in this word

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

面 originally drew a man’s face, with one eye exaggerated; the horizontal stroke was added later.

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 頰; 颊 is its simplified writing.

夾頁頰

Meaning part形符xíngfú

頁頁yèhead

Sound part声符shēngfú

夾

夾jiā頰jiá

Same sound today

In the traditional form 頰, 夾 gives the sound and 頁 shows the head, for a part of the head.

Appears in

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.