TongTong
Sign in

特色 (tè sè) — distinctive feature, characteristic

Definition

特色 highlights what makes something stand out — its 'distinctive character' or 'specialty' (e.g. a city's 特色, a restaurant's 特色菜). Stronger and more concrete than the more general 特点, and more about uniqueness than the neutral 特征.

noun
distinctive featurecharacteristic

Examples

  • 特色。
    Zhè ge chéng shì de jiàn zhù hěn yǒu tè sè.
    The architecture of this city has a lot of character.
  • 特色。
    Zhè jiā diàn de tè sè cài hěn hǎo chī.
    This restaurant's specialty dish is delicious.
  • 特色。
    Měi gè mín zú dōu yǒu zì jǐ de wén huà tè sè.
    Every ethnicity has its own cultural characteristics.

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.

特tèspecial
色sèquality or appearance

特 (special) and 色 (quality or appearance) combine to mean a distinctive quality.

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
牛牛niúox
Sound part声符shēngfú
寺
寺sì特tè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape combines 牛 (ox) with 寺, which gives the pronunciation; it originally meant a large bull.

Open 特 →

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

  • 爪爪zhuǎclaw; hand
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

色 pairs 爪 (a hand) with 卩 (a kneeling person), showing a hand pressing down on the kneeling person.

Open 色 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 6Abstract Concepts

Browse more HSK 5 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.