婚纱 (hūn shā) — wedding dress | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

婚纱 is the bridal gown the bride wears — not the ceremony itself (婚礼) or the institution of marriage (婚姻). Counted with 身.

noun

wedding dress

Measure word · 身

Examples

婚纱。
Tā zhōng yú xuǎn hǎo le nà shēn hūn shā.
She finally chose that wedding dress.
婚纱。
Zhè shēn hūn shā shì tā qīn shǒu shè jì de.
This wedding dress was designed by her personally.
婚纱。
Mā ma péi tā qù diàn lǐ shì le yì shēn hūn shā.
Her mother accompanied her to the store to try on a wedding dress.

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.

婚hūnmarriage

纱shāgauze/veil

Marriage and gauze/veil combine to name a wedding dress.

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

昏hūn婚hūn

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 紗; 纱 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

糸糸mìthread

Sound part声符shēngfú

沙

沙shā紗shā

Same sound today

The traditional form 紗 uses 糸 to mark a thread-related meaning and 沙 for the sound. The modern simplified 纱 is a shortened form.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Clothing Romance & Marriage

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