侧身 (cè shēn) — to sidle, to go sideways (by turning one's body sideways); (formal) to occupy a humble position or to participate humbly (in an activity or field)

Definition

Two distinct senses: literally, to turn one's body sideways to pass through tight spaces; in formal writing, to humbly take part in a field (e.g. ∼于文坛).

verb
to sidleto go sideways (by turning one's body sideways)(formal) to occupy a humble position or to participate humbly (in an activity or field)

Examples

  • ，侧身。
    Zǒu láng tài zhǎi le, zhǐ néng cè shēn ér guò.
    The corridor is too narrow; you can only go through sideways.
  • 。
    Tā cè le yí xià shēn cái tōng guò nà dào mén.
    He turned sideways before passing through that door.
  • ，侧身。
    Tā suī rán chū shēn pín hán, dàn hòu lái cè shēn yú wén huà jiè.
    Although he came from a humble background, he later joined the cultural circles.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

侧cèturn sideways
身shēnbody

侧 means turn sideways and 身 is body, so the body is turned sideways.

Characters in this word

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 側; 侧 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
則
則zé側cè
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 側 has 亻, a person, and uses 則 to show its sound. The simplified 侧 is a later shorthand.

Open 侧 →

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

The shape of 身 comes from a drawing of a pregnant woman.

Open 身 →

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