礼服 (lǐ fú) — formal attire, ceremonial dress (e.g., dinner s…

Definition

礼服 is the physical garment you wear to formal events (dinner jacket, evening gown). It is NOT the abstract sense of 'etiquette/ceremony' — that's 礼仪.

noun

formal attireceremonial dress (e.g., dinner suit, evening gown)

Measure word · 件

礼服。
Tā chuān le yí jiàn bái sè lǐ fú cān jiā bì yè diǎn lǐ.
She wore a white formal dress to the graduation ceremony.
，礼服。
Bān jiǎng diǎn lǐ shàng, suǒ yǒu jiā bīn dōu chuān zhuó lǐ fú.
At the awards ceremony, all the guests were wearing formal attire.
礼服。
Zhè tào lǐ fú shì tā zhuān mén dìng zhì de.
This set of formal wear was custom-made for him.

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.

礼lǐceremony

服fúclothing

礼 means ceremony and 服 means clothing, so the word names formal attire for ceremonies.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 禮; 礼 is its simplified writing.

礻豊禮

Meaning part形符xíngfú

礻Written in full as示shìaltar

Sound part声符shēngfú

豊

豊lǐ禮lǐ

Same sound today

The traditional form 禮 pairs 礻 (altar) with 豊, a sound part, for performing rites at the altar; the simplified 礼 is a later shorthand.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

𠬝

𠬝𠬝服fú

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

In 服, the part 𠬝 was the original picture for 'to subdue'; the added left part 凡, a tray, later changed shape.

Appears in