舞姿 (wǔ zī) — dancer's posture and movements; dance pose

Definition

noun

dancer's posture and movementsdance pose

Measure word · 个

Examples

舞姿，。
Tā de wǔ zī fēi cháng yōu měi, xiàng tiān é yí yàng.
Her dance posture is very graceful, like a swan.
舞姿。
Bù tóng de wǔ zī biǎo dá bù tóng de qíng gǎn.
Different dance poses express different emotions.
舞姿。
Wǔ zhě yòng wǔ zī jiǎng shù le yí gè dòng rén de gù shi.
The dancer told a moving story through her dance movements.

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.

舞wǔdance

姿zīposture

“舞” means dance and “姿” means posture, together naming the movements and posture of dance.

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

舛舛chuǎnsteps, feet in convergent direction

Sound part声符shēngfú

無

無wú舞wǔ

Same sound today

舞 combines 舛, showing feet in converging steps, with 無 above. 無 gave the sound and also preserved its older meaning of dancing, so the shape points to dancing.

Open 舞 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

次女姿

Meaning part形符xíngfú

女女nǚwoman

Sound part声符shēngfú

次

次cì姿zī

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

姿 pairs 女, meaning woman, with 次, which gives the sound.

Open 姿 →

Appears in