名酒 (míng jiǔ) — famous liquor; vintage wine; well-known spirits

Definition

noun

famous liquorvintage winewell-known spirits

Measure word · 种

名酒。
Zhè píng míng jiǔ shì tā cóng fǎ guó dài huí lái de.
This bottle of vintage wine was brought back by him from France.
名酒。
Shōu cáng míng jiǔ xū yào liǎo jiě chǎn dì hé nián fèn.
Collecting famous liquors requires knowing the origin and vintage.
名酒。
Yàn huì shàng zhǔ rén ná chū le zhēn cáng de míng jiǔ.
At the banquet, the host brought out his treasured vintage wine.

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.

名 means famous and 酒 means liquor or wine, so 名酒 is a well-known alcoholic drink.

Characters in this word

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

夕口名

名 puts 夕 (crescent moon) above 口 (mouth), showing a name spoken in the dark.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

酉

酉yǒu酒jiǔ

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

酒 pairs 酉, the original picture for this word, with 水 (water), added later to distinguish it.