衣饰 (yī shì) — clothing and accessories; personal adornments

Definition

A literary, written-style word for 'clothing and accessories,' covering both garments and ornamental pieces. More formal and broader than 衣服 (clothes only) and more decorative in focus than 服装 (apparel).

noun
clothing and accessoriespersonal adornments
Measure word · 件
Easily confused

Examples

  • 衣饰。
    Tā de yī shì dā pèi dé hěn piào liang.
    Her clothing and accessories are matched beautifully.
  • 衣饰。
    Zhè jiā diàn mài gè zhǒng chuán tǒng yī shì.
    This shop sells all kinds of traditional clothing and accessories.
  • 衣饰。
    Bó wù guǎn zhǎn chū le gǔ dài yī shì.
    The museum exhibited ancient clothing and ornaments.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

衣yīclothing
饰shìornament

衣 is clothing, 饰 is ornament, and together they cover dress and adornment.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 衣 comes from an outline of the chest and upper clothing.

Open 衣 →

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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