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五颜六色 (wǔ yán liù sè) — colorful, multicolored, full of bright colors

Definition

A vivid idiom meaning 'many-colored / multicolored' — used for things in view (flowers, clothes, lights). Distinct from 彩色 (color, the property) and richer than 五花八门, which describes variety of types rather than color.

phrase
colorfulmulticoloredfull of bright colors

Examples

  • 五颜六色。
    Gōng yuán lǐ kāi mǎn le wǔ yán liù sè de huā.
    The park is full of colorful flowers.
  • 五颜六色。
    Hái zi men chuān zhuó wǔ yán liù sè de yī fu zài tiào wǔ.
    The children are dancing in colorful clothes.
  • 五颜六色，。
    Zhè tiáo jiē shàng de guǎng gào pái wǔ yán liù sè de, hěn xī yǐn rén.
    The billboards on this street are colorful and very eye-catching.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

五颜five colors
五wǔfive颜yáncolor
偏正Modifier + head
六色six colors
六liùsix色sècolor
偏正Modifier + head

“五” and “六” give numbers of colors, while “颜” and “色” both refer to color, painting a multicolored scene.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 顏; 颜 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
彥
彥yàn顏⁰yán
Same sound today

The traditional form 顏, not the simplified 颜, pairs 彥 as a sound part with 頁, a head, for face or countenance.

Open 颜 →

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

The shape of 六 may come from a simple drawing of a shed, or from an ancient counting mark.

Open 六 →

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

  • 爪爪zhuǎclaw; hand
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

色 pairs 爪 (a hand) with 卩 (a kneeling person), showing a hand pressing down on the kneeling person.

Open 色 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5ColorsIdioms & Set Phrases

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