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秀发 (xiù fà) — beautiful hair

Definition

Literary/written noun for 'beautiful, lustrous hair.' More elegant than the everyday 头发, and often used to praise a woman's hair in writing or poetry.

noun
beautiful hair
Measure word · 头

Examples

  • 秀发。
    Tā yǒu yì tóu wū hēi de xiù fà.
    She has a head of beautiful black hair.
  • 秀发。
    Wēi fēng qīng qīng chuī dòng tā de xiù fà.
    The gentle breeze softly blew her beautiful hair.
  • 秀发。
    Tā de xiù fà zài yáng guāng xià shǎn shǎn fā guāng.
    Her beautiful hair sparkled in the sunlight.

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.

秀xiùbeautiful
发fāhair

秀 gives beauty and 发 gives hair, so it means beautiful hair.

Characters in this word

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

秀 pairs 禾 (rice plant) with 引 (to draw out flowers), showing a rice plant putting out flowers.

Open 秀 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 發; 发 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 发 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (爆发, 出发) it is 發; in others (理发, 头发) it is 髮.

The form 發, which 发 stands for in many words, was originally drawn as a bow firing an arrow.

Open 发 →
Appears in
Body Parts

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