身姿 (shēn zī) — posture | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

posture

Examples

，身姿。
Tā zhàn zài wǔ tái shàng, shēn zī tǐng bá ér yōu yǎ.
She stands on the stage with a straight and graceful posture.
身姿。
Yú jiā liàn xí néng gǎi shàn nǐ de shēn zī hé píng héng.
Yoga practice can improve your posture and balance.
身姿。
Zhè wèi mó tè zǒu xiù shí shēn zī fēi cháng yōu měi.
This model's posture is very graceful when walking the runway.

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.

姿zīposture

身 (body) and 姿 (posture) combine to describe how the body stands.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 身 comes from a drawing of a pregnant woman.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

次女姿

Meaning part形符xíngfú

女女nǚwoman

Sound part声符shēngfú

次

次cì姿zī

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

姿 pairs 女, meaning woman, with 次, which gives the sound.

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