TongTong
Sign in

侧面 (cè miàn) — side; lateral surface (physical); aspect; angle; perspective (figurative)

Definition

侧面 is a physical side or surface (lateral, not front), and figuratively an 'angle' or 'perspective' on a matter — more concrete and often more neutral than 方面. For a viewpoint, 角度 emphasizes the literal or figurative angle of looking.

noun
sidelateral surface (physical)aspectangleperspective (figurative)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 侧面。
    Zhè zuò dà lóu de cè miàn yǒu yì pái chuāng hu.
    This building has a row of windows on its side.
  • 侧面。
    Wǒ men yīng gāi cóng duō gè cè miàn kǎo chá zhè ge wèn tí.
    We should examine this issue from multiple angles.
  • 侧面。
    Tā de cè miàn zhào bǐ zhèng miàn zhào gèng yǒu gè xìng.
    His profile photo has more character than his personality than the front-facing one.

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.

侧cèlateral
面miànsurface

‘侧’ means lateral and ‘面’ means surface; together they name a side or lateral aspect.

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.

面 originally drew a man’s face, with one eye exaggerated; the horizontal stroke was added later.

Open 面 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Abstract Concepts

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