婚礼 (hūn lǐ) — wedding | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

婚礼 refers to the wedding event/ceremony itself, not the marriage as a state (that's 婚姻). More specific than the general 喜事 ('happy occasion').

noun

wedding

Measure word · 场

婚礼。
Tā men de hūn lǐ dìng zài míng nián chūn tiān.
Their wedding is set for next spring.
婚礼。
Wǒ jiě jie de hūn lǐ yāo qǐng le wǔ bǎi gè kè rén.
My sister's wedding invited five hundred guests.
婚礼。
Zhè chǎng hūn lǐ bàn dé fēi cháng rè nao.
This wedding was held very lively.

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.

婚hūnmarriage

礼lǐceremony

婚 names a marriage and 礼 names a ceremony, so 婚礼 is a wedding ceremony.

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.

女昏婚

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

昏

Same sound today

婚 uses 女 (woman) for the meaning and 昏 for the sound hūn.

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.

Appears in