戏迷 (xì mí) — fan of Chinese opera, opera enthusiast

Definition

A devoted fan of Chinese opera (戏曲), especially traditional forms like 京剧 or 越剧. Pattern: X迷 = 'fan/enthusiast of X' (e.g., 球迷 football fan, 影迷 movie fan).

noun
fan of Chinese operaopera enthusiast
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 戏迷，。
    Wǒ yé ye shì gè lǎo xì mí, měi zhōu dōu qù tīng xì.
    My grandfather is a longtime opera fan; he goes to listen to opera every week.
  • 戏迷，。
    Zhè xiē xì mí wèi le mǎi piào, líng chén jiù lái pái duì le.
    These opera fans came to line up at dawn just to buy tickets.
  • 戏迷，。
    Zuò wéi yí gè xì mí, tā duì gè gè liú pài dōu liǎo rú zhǐ zhǎng.
    As an opera fan, he knows every school of performance inside out.

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.

戏xìopera
迷mífan

“戏” opera and “迷” fan combine as an opera enthusiast.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 戲; 戏 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
戈戈gēhalberd
Sound part声符shēngfú
䖒
䖒䖒戲xì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 戲, the shape combines 戈 (halberd) with 䖒, which gives the sound; the word originally meant an army's wing or flank. The simplified 戏 is a later shorthand, not the form described here.

Open 戏 →

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
辵辵chuòwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
米
米mǐ迷mí
Same sound today

迷 uses 辵, the walking part, and 米, which gives the sound.

Open 迷 →

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