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司仪 (sī yí) — master of ceremonies, emcee

Definition

A formal word for the 'master of ceremonies' at weddings, galas, or other events. 主持人 is the more common, all-purpose alternative.

noun
master of ceremoniesemcee
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 司仪。
    Jīn tiān hūn lǐ de sī yí shì wǒ men zuì hǎo de péng you.
    The master of ceremonies at today's wedding is our best friend.
  • 司仪。
    Tā dāng guò hěn duō wǎn huì de sī yí.
    He has been the emcee for many evening parties.
  • 司仪。
    Zhè wèi sī yí hěn shòu huān yíng.
    This master of ceremonies is very popular.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

司sīmanage
仪yíceremony

司 means manage and 仪 means ceremony, so together they mean one who manages a ceremony.

Characters in this word

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

The evidence is inconclusive: one suggestion sees 司 as a mouth giving orders beside a mark of authority, another reads that mark as a hand, and another sees it as a reversed older form.

Open 司 →

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 儀; 仪 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
義
義yì儀yí
Same sound today

In the traditional form 儀, the left part 亻 shows a person, and the right part 義 supplies the sound. This description is about 儀, not the simplified 仪.

Open 仪 →
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