秋波 (qiū bō) — (literary) bright eyes of a beautiful woman; attractive, flirtatious glance

Definition

Literary, romantic image: the flirtatious glance of a beautiful woman's eyes — 'casting 秋波' means to send an alluring look. Used in writing and poetry, not everyday speech.

noun
(literary) bright eyes of a beautiful womanattractiveflirtatious glance

Examples

  • 秋波。
    Tā nà shuāng qiū bō ràng rén xīn dòng.
    Her bright eyes stir people's hearts.
  • 秋波。
    Tā rěn bú zhù xiàng duì miàn de gū niang àn sòng qiū bō.
    He couldn't help secretly casting amorous glances at the girl across from him.
  • 秋波。
    Xiǎo shuō lǐ miáo xiě le zhǔ rén gōng de yíng yíng qiū bō.
    The novel describes the protagonist's sparkling eyes.

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.

秋qiūautumn
波bōwave

秋 means autumn and 波 means wave; an autumn wave pictures a bright, flirtatious glance.

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
禾禾hégrain
Sound part声符shēngfú
𤒅
𤒅𤒅秋qiū
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape 秋 pairs 禾 (grain) with 𤒅, which gives the sound.

Open 秋 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
皮
皮pí波bō
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 氵 is water, and the right side 皮 gives the sound.

Open 波 →

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