魁梧 (kuí wú) — big and tall; stalwart (of a person's build) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

adjective

big and tallstalwart (of a person's build)

Examples

魁梧，。
Tā shēn cái kuí wú, zhàn zài rén qún lǐ hěn xiǎn yǎn.
He is big and tall, very conspicuous in a crowd.
魁梧，。
Zhè wèi yùn dòng yuán kuí wú yǒu lì, yí kàn jiù shì liàn guò de.
This athlete is stalwart and strong — you can tell he's trained.
魁梧，。
Tā cháng dé kuí wú, dàn xìng gé què hěn wēn hé.
He is big and tall, but his personality is very gentle.

Origin

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

魁 and 梧 do not carry separate meanings here; 魁梧 names a big, tall build.

Sound-only characters

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

鬼斗魁

Meaning part形符xíngfú

斗斗dòuladle

Sound part声符shēngfú

鬼

鬼guǐ魁kuí

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

魁 pairs 斗, a ladle, with 鬼, which supplies the sound. The evidence identifies the original thing as a soup ladle.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

木吾梧

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

吾

吾wú梧wú

Same sound today

梧 pairs 木, a tree, to show it is a kind of tree, with 吾 to give its sound.

Appears in

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