开间 (kāi jiān) — standard width of a room (in architecture or real estate)

Definition

In Chinese real-estate and architecture, 开间 refers to the width of a room's main façade (the distance between windows or load-bearing walls). It is a fixed technical measurement, not the total floor area.

noun
standard width of a room (in architecture or real estate)

Examples

  • 开间。
    Zhè dòng fáng zi de kāi jiān hěn dà.
    This house has a very large room width.
  • 开间。
    Shè jì shī bǎ měi gè kāi jiān dōu shè jì chéng le sān mǐ.
    The designer made each room width three meters.
  • 开间。
    Chuán tǒng sì hé yuàn de kāi jiān tōng cháng bǐ jiào xiǎo.
    The room width of traditional siheyuan is usually relatively small.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 開; 开 is its simplified writing.

  • 門門méndoor
  • 一一yīlatch and/or wooden pole that shuts a door
  • 廾廾gǒnga pair of hands

The traditional form 開 shows 廾, a pair of hands, and 一, a latch or pole, inside 門, a door: hands opening a latched door. The simplified 开 is a shorthand form, so its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 开 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 间 →

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