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白粉 (bái fěn) — face powder, cosmetic powder; (slang) heroin

Definition

Literally 'white powder', 白粉 covers two unrelated senses: cosmetic face powder and (in slang/news reports) heroin. Context — cosmetics like 口红 or 警方 seizing drugs — disambiguates.

noun
face powdercosmetic powder(slang) heroin
Measure word · 盒

Examples

  • 白粉。
    Tā měi tiān huà zhuāng qián dōu yào yòng bái fěn.
    She uses face powder every day before applying makeup.
  • 白粉。
    Jǐng fāng chá huò le dà liàng bái fěn.
    The police seized a large amount of heroin.
  • ，白粉。
    Zhè jiā diàn mài huà zhuāng pǐn, bāo kuò bái fěn hé kǒu hóng.
    This store sells cosmetics, including face powder and lipstick.

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
粉fěnpowder

白 means white, and 粉 means powder, so it denotes a white powder or cosmetic.

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 →

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
米米mǐrice
Sound part声符shēngfú
分
分fēn粉fěn
Same sound today

粉 pairs 米 (rice) with 分 for its sound. The rice part points to face powder made from rice.

Open 粉 →
Appears in
Toiletries & Cosmetics

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