(páng) — (bound form) huge, enormous; (bound form, literary) face (in idioms like 庞眉皓发)

Definition

Bound form meaning 'huge / massive' (as in 庞大, 庞然大物). In literary idioms like 庞眉皓发 it reads as 'face' — a set-phrase sense you can recognize but won't produce.

bound form
hugeenormous(bound form, literary) face (in idioms like 庞眉皓发)

Examples

  • Zhè zuò jiàn zhù fēi cháng páng dà.
    This building is extremely huge.
  • Gōng sī de nèi bù jié gòu shí fēn páng zá.
    The internal structure of the company is very messy and huge.
  • Nà zhī páng rán dà wù ràng rén gǎn dào hài pà.
    That huge monster made people feel scared.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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 龐; 庞 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
广广guǎnghouse
Sound part声符shēngfú
lóngpáng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 龐 pairs 广 (house) with 龍 (a sound part); the simplified 庞 is a shorthand, so its right side is not the original part.

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