TongTong
Sign in

封面 (fēng miàn) — cover (of a book, magazine, etc.)

Definition

封面 specifically means the front cover of a publication (book, magazine, journal) — the outer surface itself, not the content inside. 份 is the measure word you use to count such publications; 杂志 is the magazine itself, whose 封面 you might describe.

noun
cover (of a book, magazine, etc.)
Measure word · 个
Easily confused

Examples

  • 封面。
    Zhè běn shū de fēng miàn shè jì dé hěn piào liang.
    The cover of this book is beautifully designed.
  • 封面。
    Zhè běn zá zhì de fēng miàn shàng yìn zhe yí wèi zhù míng yǎn yuán.
    This magazine's cover features a famous actor.
  • 封面。
    Qǐng xiǎo xīn bú yào nòng zāng fēng miàn.
    Please be careful not to dirty the cover.

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.

封fēngcover
面miànsurface

封 'cover' and 面 'surface' combine for the front surface of a publication.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth
寸寸cùnhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
丰
丰fēng封fēng
Same sound today

The shape 封 is 丰 plus 土 (earth) plus 寸 (hand); 丰 was originally drawn as a tree seedling.

Open 封 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

面 originally drew a man’s face, with one eye exaggerated; the horizontal stroke was added later.

Open 面 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Reading & Writing5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.