一品 (yī pǐn) — highest rank (of officials in imperial China); top grade; first-class (in quality, of products or goods)

Definition

Literary term for the top rank in imperial China (e.g. 一品官) and the highest grade of products. In modern speech, only the product-quality sense survives; the official-rank sense is historical.

noun
highest rank (of officials in imperial China)top gradefirst-class (in quality, of products or goods)

Examples

  • ，一品。
    Zài gǔ dài, zhǐ yǒu yī pǐn de dà chén cái néng chuān zhè zhǒng yán sè de guān fú.
    In ancient times, only ministers of the highest rank could wear official robes of this color.
  • 一品，。
    Zhè jiā diàn mài de yī pǐn tiě guān yīn, pǐn zhì què shí fēi cháng hǎo.
    The top-grade Tieguanyin tea sold at this shop is indeed of excellent quality.
  • 一品，。
    Tā shōu cáng le yí tào yī pǐn zǐ shā hú, jià zhí lián chéng.
    He collected a set of first-class purple clay teapots, worth a fortune.

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.

一yīfirst
品pǐnrank

The 一 in 一品 marks first and 品 names a rank or grade, so it means top rank.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Open 一 →

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

品 repeats the same simple shape three times, representing various objects.

Open 品 →

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