芳草 (fāng cǎo) — fragrant herb or plant (literal); (literary) a person of esteemed virtue; gentlemanly character

Definition

Literary word. Literally 'fragrant grass/herb' from classical Chinese, but most often used as a metaphor for a person of noble virtue — the gentlemanly or virtuous figure.

noun
fragrant herb or plant (literal)(literary) a person of esteemed virtuegentlemanly character
Measure word · 株

Examples

  • ，芳草，。
    Chūn tiān lái le, fāng cǎo biàn dì, jǐng sè yí rén.
    Spring has arrived; fragrant grass is everywhere, and the scenery is delightful.
  • 芳草。
    Gǔ rén cháng yǐ fāng cǎo bǐ yù jūn zǐ de gāo shàng pǐn dé.
    The ancients often used 'fragrant grass' as a metaphor for a gentleman's noble character.
  • 芳草，。
    Zhè piàn yuán zi lǐ zhǒng mǎn le gè zhǒng fāng cǎo, xiāng qì pū bí.
    This garden is planted with all kinds of fragrant herbs, their aroma wafting to the nose.

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.

芳fāngfragrant
草cǎoplant

The fragrance of 芳 and the plant sense of 草 make a fragrant herb, used for virtue.

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
艸艸cǎograss
Sound part声符shēngfú
方
方fāng芳fāng
Same sound today

芳 pairs 艸 (grass) with 方 (fāng); the 方 part gives the sound.

Open 芳 →

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

草 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 早, which gives the sound. The form originally referred to another word and was later used for the grass sense.

Open 草 →

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