花饰 (huā shì) — ornamental floral design; decorative pattern with flowers

Definition

花饰 refers to decorative floral patterns applied to objects like clothing, fabric, or crafts — an ornamental design featuring flowers, usually small and repeated, rather than the flowers themselves.

noun
ornamental floral designdecorative pattern with flowers
Easily confused

Examples

  • 花饰。
    Zhè ge huā shì hěn jīng zhì.
    This ornamental design is very exquisite.
  • 花饰。
    Tā yī fu shàng de huā shì shì shǒu gōng xiù de.
    The floral design on her clothes is hand-embroidered.
  • 花饰。
    Zhè jiā diàn mài gè zhǒng huā shì.
    This store sells all kinds of ornamental designs.

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.

花huāflower
饰shìornament

花 names flowers and 饰 names ornament, together a floral decoration.

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
化
化huà花
Same sound today

花 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 化, which gives the sound.

Open 花 →

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 飾; 饰 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
巾巾jīncloth
Sound part声符shēngfú
飤
飤sì飾shì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 飾 pairs 巾 (cloth) with 飤 as a sound part; the simplified 饰 is a later abbreviation.

Open 饰 →

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