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明星 (míng xīng) — star; celebrity (famous person)

Definition

明星 is a famous person in entertainment (actors, singers, athletes). Unlike 偶像 (an idol you admire or follow), 明星 emphasizes fame itself. Not used for the stars in the sky (that's 星星).

noun
starcelebrity (famous person)
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 明星。
    Tā shì yí wèi zhù míng de míng xīng.
    He is a famous celebrity.
  • 明星。
    Hěn duō míng xīng dōu cān jiā le zhè ge huó dòng.
    Many celebrities attended this event.
  • 明星。
    Wǒ xī wàng jiāng lái néng chéng wéi yì míng míng xīng.
    I hope to become a celebrity in the future.

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.

明míngbright
星xīngstar

明 bright and 星 star make a bright star, used for a famous person.

Characters in this word

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

明 combines 日 (sun) and 月 (moon), showing the sun just rising while the moon has not yet set, or two bright objects in the sky, to express brightness.

Open 明 →

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

The top of 星 is a later simplified form of 晶, twinkling stars; the bottom 生 shows the sound.

Open 星 →
Appears in
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