微笑 (wēi xiào) — (verb) to smile; (noun) smile

Definition

微笑 (wēi xiào) is a gentle, quiet smile — softer than the everyday 笑, which can mean laughing out loud. 笑容 names the expression itself rather than the act of smiling.

verb
to smile
noun
smile
Measure word · 个, 丝

Examples

  • 微笑。
    Tā duì wǒ wēi xiào le yí xià.
    She smiled at me.
  • 微笑。
    Tā de wēi xiào ràng rén gǎn jué hěn wēn nuǎn.
    His smile makes people feel very warm.
  • 微笑。
    Fú wù yuán liǎn shàng dài zhe wēi xiào zǒu guò lái.
    The waiter came over with a smile on his face.

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.

微wēislight
笑xiàosmile

微 means slight and 笑 means smile, so together they describe a faint smile.

Characters in this word

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

The old form showed 𡵂 (a variant of 美, a person with long hair) and 攵 (a hand with a tool) splitting or combing hairs, hence minute; 微 later added 彳 to emphasize action.

Open 微 →

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
犬犬quǎndog
Sound part声符shēngfú
艸
艸cǎo笑xiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

An early 笑 used the grass 艸 for the sound and the dog 犬 for the meaning; later it was written with 竹 and 夭.

Open 笑 →
Appears in
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