西服 (xī fú) — suit (Western-style formal clothing) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

suit (Western-style formal clothing)

Measure word · 套

Examples

，西服。
Wǒ míng tiān yào qù miàn shì, suǒ yǐ chuān le yì shēn xīn xī fú.
I have a job interview tomorrow, so I wore a new suit.
西服，。
Zhè jiàn xī fú shì zài dǎ zhé de shí hou mǎi de, hěn pián yi.
This suit was bought during a sale; it was very cheap.
西服。
Tā chuān zhuó xī fú qù cān jiā wǎn yàn le.
He went to the banquet wearing a suit.

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.

西xīWestern

服fúclothes

西 'Western' + 服 'clothes' gives Western-style clothing.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

凡凡fántray

Sound part声符shēngfú

𠬝

𠬝𠬝服fú

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 服, the part 𠬝 was the original picture for 'to subdue'; the added left part 凡, a tray, later changed shape.

Appears in

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