大礼服 (dà lǐ fú) — formal dress, full dress coat

Definition

noun

formal dressfull dress coat

Measure word · 件

大礼服。
Tā chuān le yí jiàn dà lǐ fú qù cān jiā wǎn huì.
He wore a full dress coat to the party.
大礼服。
dà lǐ fú Yì bān zài zhèng shì chǎng hé cái néng kàn dào.
Formal dress is usually only seen in formal occasions.
大礼服。
Zhè jiàn dà lǐ fú shì wǒ fù qīn de.
This full dress coat is my father's.

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.

礼服ceremonial dress

礼lǐceremony服fúclothing

偏正Modifier + head

大 means full or great, while 礼 means ceremony and 服 means clothing, giving formal full dress.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

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 禮; 礼 is its simplified writing.

礻豊禮

Meaning part形符xíngfú

礻Written in full as示shìaltar

Sound part声符shēngfú

豊

豊lǐ禮lǐ

Same sound today

The traditional form 禮 pairs 礻 (altar) with 豊, a sound part, for performing rites at the altar; the simplified 礼 is a later shorthand.

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

𠬝

𠬝𠬝服fú

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

In 服, the part 𠬝 was the original picture for 'to subdue'; the added left part 凡, a tray, later changed shape.