咪咪 (mī mī) — (onomatopoeia) meow (the sound a cat makes); (o… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Onomatopoeia for a cat's "meow," also used reduplicated as 咪咪笑 to describe a pleasant, squinting smile.

onomatopoeia

meow (the sound a cat makes)used to describe a pleasantsquinting smile (as in 咪咪笑)

Examples

“咪咪”，。
Chuāng wài chuán lái yī shēng "mī mī", yuán lái shì xiǎo māo huí lái le.
A 'meow' came from outside the window — it turned out the kitten was back.
咪咪，。
Tā xiào dé mī mī de, kàn qǐ lái hěn kāi xīn.
She smiled with her eyes narrowed, looking very happy.
“咪咪”。
Huì běn lǐ de xiǎo māo zǒng shì yì biān "mī mī" jiào yì biān dǎ gǔn.
The kitten in the picture book always meows while rolling around.

Origin

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

叠音diéyīnRepeated syllable

One syllable written twice as a single unit of meaning; neither half stands alone.

The characters do not carry meaning on their own; the doubled sound imitates a cat's meow or a squinting smile.

Sound-only characters

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

口米咪

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth; speech

Sound part声符shēngfú

米

Same sound today

咪 combines 口 (mouth; speech) with 米, which gives the sound.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

口米咪

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth; speech

Sound part声符shēngfú

米

Same sound today

咪 combines 口 (mouth; speech) with 米, which gives the sound.

Appears in

Animals & Mammals

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