白大褂 (bái dà guà) — white lab coat, doctor's coat

Definition

noun
white lab coatdoctor's coat
Measure word · 件

Examples

  • 白大褂。
    Yī shēng dōu chuān zhuó bái dà guà shàng bān.
    Doctors all wear white lab coats to work.
  • 白大褂。
    Zhè jiàn bái dà guà xū yào měi tiān xiāo dú.
    This white lab coat needs to be disinfected every day.
  • 白大褂，。
    Tā tuō xià bái dà guà, guà zài le yī jià shàng.
    He took off his white lab coat and hung it on the coat rack.

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.

白báiwhite
大褂long gown
大dàlarge褂guàgown
偏正Modifier + head

白 names the color, and 大褂 the long gown, together a white doctor's coat.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

白 is thought to picture either an acorn or a human head.

Open 白 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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
衣衣yīclothes
Sound part声符shēngfú
卦
卦guà褂guà
Same sound today

For the jacket 褂, 衣 shows it is clothing, and 卦 gives the sound.

Appears in
ClothingHospital & Clinic

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