外套 (wài tào) — coat; jacket | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

General term for a coat or jacket worn outside. 大衣 is heavier (a winter overcoat); 上衣 refers to any upper garment, including non-outerwear like a shirt.

noun

coatjacket

Measure word · 件

Examples

外套。
Wǒ mǎi le yí jiàn xīn wài tào.
I bought a new coat.
外套，。
Zhè jiàn wài tào tài dà le, wǒ xiǎng huàn yí jiàn.
This coat is too big; I want to exchange it.
，外套。
Wài miàn hěn lěng, chuān shàng wài tào ba.
It's cold outside; put on your coat.

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.

外 means outer, and 套 is a covering, giving a coat.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

月

月yuè外wài

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

外 pairs 卜 with 月, a crescent moon; in its older form, the 卜 part had a horizontal bar extending outward, giving the sense of outside.

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

大大dàlarge
長長chánglong

套 is made from 大 (large) and 長 (long), originally for something long, with some reference to hair; it later came to mean a cover or a linked group.

Appears in

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