人脸 (rén liǎn) — human face (of a person) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literally 'person + face', used in technical contexts like face recognition (人脸识别) and biometric ID. As a plain everyday word for a person's face, just 脸 alone is more natural.

noun

human face (of a person)

Measure word · 张

Examples

人脸。
rén liǎn Shì rén yǔ rén zhī jiān zuì zhòng yào de shí bié tè zhēng zhī yī.
The human face is one of the most important identifying features between people.
。
Zuì xīn kuǎn shǒu jī kě yǐ yòng rén liǎn jiě suǒ.
The latest model phones can use face recognition to unlock.
人脸，。
rén liǎn Shì shēn tǐ zuì bào lù de bù fen, yào hǎo hǎo bǎo hù.
The face is the most exposed part of the body, so take good care of it.

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.

人 (human) modifies 脸 (face), simply meaning a human face.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

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 臉; 脸 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

⺼Written in full as肉ròubody part

Sound part声符shēngfú

僉

僉qiān臉liǎn

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

The traditional form 臉 combines ⺼ (肉, body part) with 僉 as a sound part; the simplified 脸 is a later abbreviation.

Appears in

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