殿下 (diàn xià) — Your Highness; His/Her Highness (title for roya… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Honorific address used directly TO a royal below the emperor/empress (princes, princesses); it is a pronoun referring to that person in formal or courtly speech.

pronoun

Your HighnessHis/Her Highness (title for royalty below emperor/empress)

Examples

殿下，。
diàn xià, Qǐng nín yòng cān.
Your Highness, please have your meal.
殿下。
diàn xià Jīn tiān yào qù shì chá zāi qū.
His/Her Highness will go to inspect the disaster area today.
殿下。
Chén cān jiàn diàn xià.
Your subject pays respects to Your Highness.

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.

殿 is the hall, and 下 points to the person standing below it.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

殳殳shūhand holding a weapon

Sound part声符shēngfú

𡱂

臀tún殿⁰diàn

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

殿 pairs 𡱂 (buttocks, giving the sound) with 殳 (a hand holding a weapon) to show hitting the buttocks.

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

下 is drawn as a short horizontal line below a long curved line.

Appears in

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