婀娜 (ē nuó) — graceful (of a woman's bearing); elegant; lithe

Definition

Literary, written-style adjective for a woman's graceful bearing or movement — more elegant and formal than the everyday 漂亮. Often used in descriptions of dance, posture, or figures in moonlight.

adjective
graceful (of a woman's bearing)elegantlithe

Examples

  • 婀娜。
    Tā de wǔ zī shí fēn ē nuó.
    Her dance movements are very graceful.
  • 婀娜。
    Tā zǒu lù de zī tài ē nuó dòng rén.
    The way she walks is graceful and captivating.
  • 婀娜。
    ē nuó De shēn yǐng zài yuè guāng xià xiǎn de gé wài měi lì.
    Her graceful figure looks especially beautiful under the moonlight.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

婀ē
娜nà

婀 and 娜 only yield the sense of graceful bearing when joined; neither stands for a separate idea here.

Sound-only characters

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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nǚ
Sound part声符shēngfú
那
那nà娜
Same sound today

娜 combines 女 (woman) with 那 (nà), which gives its sound.

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