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寝室 (qǐn shì) — dormitory (shared sleeping quarters in a school or workplace); bedroom (in a broader sense, a room for sleeping)

Definition

寝室 usually means a shared student dormitory room. Compared with 卧室 (a private bedroom at home), it implies a shared school setting; 宿舍 is the more common modern word for the same meaning.

noun
dormitory (shared sleeping quarters in a school or workplace)bedroom (in a broader sense, a room for sleeping)
Measure word · 间

Examples

  • 寝室，。
    Wǒ men xué xiào de qǐn shì hěn gān jìng, měi jiān zhù sì gè rén.
    Our school's dormitories are very clean, with four people per room.
  • 寝室，。
    Zhè jiān qǐn shì cháo nán, yáng guāng hěn hǎo.
    This dormitory faces south and gets good sunlight.
  • 寝室。
    Tā měi tiān huí qǐn shì zhī qián dōu huì qù tú shū guǎn xué xí.
    He goes to the library to study every day before returning to his dormitory.

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.

寝qǐnsleep
室shìroom

寝 refers to sleeping and 室 to a room, so the word names a place for sleeping.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 寢; 寝 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀miánroof
爿爿pánbed
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠬶
𠬶𠬶寢qǐn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 寢 has a 宀 roof and a 爿 bed, with a 𠬶 broom-and-hand part that gives the sound; the simplified 寝 is a later shorthand.

Open 寝 →

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
至
至zhì室shì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

室 puts 宀 (roof) over 至, the spot where someone stops, giving the meaning of a house or residence.

Open 室 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Home & HousingSchool & Education

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