美工 (měi gōng) — visual art design; applied art and graphics (as a practice or field); art designer; graphic artist

Definition

Refers to BOTH the work of visual/commercial design and the person who does it — context decides which sense. Closest English is 'graphic design' or 'graphic designer', usually for web, print, or advertising.

noun
visual art designapplied art and graphics (as a practice or field)art designergraphic artist

Examples

  • 美工。
    Tā zài yì jiā gōng sī zuò měi gōng.
    He works as an art designer at a company.
  • 美工。
    Zhè ge wǎng zhàn de měi gōng zuò dé hěn jīng.
    The art design of this website is very refined.
  • 美工。
    Tā dà xué xué de shì měi gōng zhuān yè.
    She studied art design as her major in college.

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.

美měiart/beauty
工gōngwork/worker

Work connected with art and beauty, such as visual design or a designer.

Characters in this word

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

美 shows 大, a person, wearing 羊, a headdress of feathers or ram's horn.

Open 美 →

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

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Open 工 →

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