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蒙面 (méng miàn) — to mask one's face; to cover one's face (with a cloth or mask)

Definition

Verb meaning 'to cover the face' with a cloth or mask — usually for disguise, anonymity, or sleep. Used as a set verb-object phrase; 蒙 often takes 着 in the progressive (蒙着面).

verb
to mask one's faceto cover one's face (with a cloth or mask)

Examples

  • ，。
    Tā méng zhe miàn, bù xiǎng ràng bié rén rèn chū tā.
    He masked his face because he didn't want others to recognize him.
  • ，蒙面。
    Zài biǎo yǎn zhōng, yǎn yuán men dōu méng miàn le.
    During the performance, all the actors masked their faces.
  • 蒙面。
    Tā xí guàn méng miàn shuì jiào.
    He is used to sleeping with his face covered.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

蒙méngcover
面miànface

蒙 means cover and 面 means face, so the word describes covering the face.

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
Sound part声符shēngfú
冡
冡měng蒙méng
Same sound today

蒙 combines 艹 (grass) with 冡, which supplies the sound.

Open 蒙 →

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

面 originally drew a man’s face, with one eye exaggerated; the horizontal stroke was added later.

Open 面 →
Appears in
Clothing

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