便鞋 (biàn xié) — cloth shoes; slippers

Definition

Casual, comfortable cloth shoes — softer and more informal than regular 鞋 (xié), and lighter/outdoor-friendly than 拖鞋 (tuōxié), which are strictly indoor slippers.

noun
cloth shoesslippers
Measure word · 双

Examples

  • 便鞋。
    Tā chuān le yì shuāng hēi sè biàn xié qù sàn bù.
    He wore a pair of black slippers for a walk.
  • 便鞋，。
    Zhè shuāng biàn xié shì bù zuò de, chuān qǐ lái hěn shū fu.
    These cloth shoes are made of cloth and are very comfortable to wear.
  • 便鞋，。
    Wǒ zài shāng diàn mǎi le yì shuāng biàn xié, hěn róu ruǎn.
    I bought a pair of slippers at the store; they're very soft.

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.

便biàncasual
鞋xiéshoes

便 means casual or informal, and 鞋 means shoes, so the word refers to casual shoes or slippers.

Characters in this word

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

便 pairs 亻 (person) with 更 (to change), showing a person changing posture to become comfortable.

Open 便 →

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
革革géleather
Sound part声符shēngfú
圭
圭guī鞋
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

鞋 puts 革 (leather) beside 圭 to show leather shoes; 圭 gives the sound and originally drew a pair of ritual axes, not earth.

Open 鞋 →

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