屁股 (pì gu) — buttocks, bottom, backside | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Colloquial word for a person's buttocks or bottom. 臀 is the formal/medical term; 底 and 底子 refer to the bottom of an object, not a body part.

noun

buttocksbottombackside

Measure word · 个

Examples

，屁股。
Tā zuò zài dì shàng, pì gu zhí jiē tiē zhe bīng lěng de dì miàn.
He sat on the ground, his bottom directly touching the cold floor.
屁股。
Dǎ zhēn de shí hou hù shi huì dǎ zài pì gu de shàng bàn bù fen.
When getting an injection, the nurse aims for the upper part of the buttock.
屁股。
Zhè tiáo kù zi pì gu de wèi zhì yǒu diǎn jǐn.
The seat of these pants is a bit tight.

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.

屁股 names the buttocks as the part 股 associated with 屁, literally fart plus part.

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.

尸比屁

Meaning part形符xíngfú

尸尸shībody

Sound part声符shēngfú

比

比bǐ屁pì

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

屁 pairs 尸, a body-related mark, with 比, which gives its sound.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

肉肉ròubody
夃夃gǔthigh

In 股, the left 肉 marks the body. The right side, now written 殳, comes from 夃, an old form for thigh, and gives the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6 1000 Most Frequent Chinese Words Body Parts 2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words 3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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