姿 (zī) — posture, carriage; appearance, looks

Definition

Bound morpheme used in set compounds like 姿势 (posture) and 姿态 (attitude/pose); on its own it never stands alone as a word.

bound form
posturecarriageappearancelooks
Easily confused

Examples

  • 。
    Tā de wǔ zī fēi cháng yōu měi.
    Her dancing posture is very graceful.
  • 。
    Tā xué yóu yǒng de zī shì hěn biāo zhǔn.
    His swimming posture is very standard.
  • 。
    Tā bǎo chí duān zhèng de zī tài.
    She maintains a proper posture/attitude.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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
女女nǚwoman
Sound part声符shēngfú
次
次cì姿zī
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

姿 pairs 女, meaning woman, with 次, which gives the sound.

Appears in
Appearance

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