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五花八门 (wǔ huā bā mén) — (chengyu) all kinds of, varied, of every description

Definition

A chengyu meaning 'all kinds of, of every variety' — emphasizes bewildering diversity. 形形色色 focuses on the range of types, while 五花八门 adds a sense of dazzling, even chaotic variety.

phrase
(chengyu) all kinds ofvariedof every description

Examples

  • 五花八门，。
    Wǎng luò shàng de xìn xī wǔ huā bā mén, xū yào zǐ xì fēn biàn zhēn jiǎ.
    The information online is all kinds; you need to carefully distinguish truth from falsehood.
  • 五花八门，。
    Zhè jiā chāo shì de shāng pǐn zhēn wǔ huā bā mén, cóng shí pǐn dào diàn qì yàng yàng dōu yǒu.
    This supermarket has really all sorts of products — from food to electronics, everything is available.
  • 五花八门，。
    Miàn duì wǔ huā bā mén de jiǎn féi fāng fǎ, tā bù zhī dào gāi xuǎn nǎ ge.
    Faced with all kinds of weight-loss methods, she didn't know which one to choose.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

五花five flowers
五wǔfive花huāflower
偏正Modifier + head
八门eight gates
八bāeight门méngate
偏正Modifier + head

五花 and 八门 together suggest five flowers and eight gates, hence great variety.

Characters in this word

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

An older form had a crossed mark between a top bar and a bottom bar. The modern 五 keeps those bars, while the original idea is uncertain.

Open 五 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
化
化huà花
Same sound today

花 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 化, which gives the sound.

Open 花 →

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

八 shows two bent lines, indicating the original meaning 'to divide'; it was later used for 'eight' because the words sounded alike.

Open 八 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 門; 门 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 門 pictures a gate as two door shapes side by side; the simplified 门 is a later shorthand.

Open 门 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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