异彩 (yì cǎi) — extraordinary splendor; brilliance | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A literary noun for 'extraordinary brilliance' — almost always used in set phrases like 大放异彩 ('shine brilliantly') or 异彩纷呈 ('a dazzling display').

noun

extraordinary splendorbrilliance

Examples

，。
Zhè cì zhǎn lǎn shàng, zhōng guó de chuán tǒng gōng yì dà fàng yì cǎi.
At this exhibition, Chinese traditional crafts shone brilliantly.
异彩，。
Wǎn huì shàng jié mù yì cǎi fēn chéng, guān zhòng zhǎng shēng bú duàn.
The performances at the party were a dazzling display of brilliance, and the audience kept applauding.
异彩。
Zhè bù xiǎo shuō zài wén xué shǐ shàng dú jù yì cǎi.
This novel has a unique brilliance in literary history.

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.

异yìextraordinary

彩cǎisplendor

异 means extraordinary and 彩 means splendor, together describing brilliance.

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 異; 异 is its simplified writing.

田共異

田田tián
共共gòng

The traditional form 異 depicts a person with a mask 田 over the face, so the face looks different. The simplified 异 is a later shorthand.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

采彡彩

Meaning part形符xíngfú

彡彡shān

Sound part声符shēngfú

采

采cǎi彩cǎi

Same sound today

彩 puts 采, which gives the sound, next to 彡, the three-stroke mark that carries the meaning.

Appears in

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