铁汉 (tiě hàn) — strong-willed person; tough guy | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

strong-willed persontough guy

Measure word · 个

Examples

铁汉，。
Tā zhēn shì gè tiě hàn, shén me dōu bú pà.
He's really a tough guy, afraid of nothing.
，铁汉。
Miàn duì kùn nan, tiě hàn cóng bù hòu tuì.
When facing difficulties, a strong-willed person never backs down.
铁汉。
Diàn yǐng lǐ de tiě hàn xíng xiàng fēi cháng gǎn rén.
The tough-guy character in the movie is very moving.

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.

铁 means iron, 汉 means a man, together a strong-willed man.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鐵; 铁 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

金金jīnmetal

Sound part声符shēngfú

𢧤

𢧤𢧤鐵tiě

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

The traditional form 鐵 pairs 金 (metal) with 𢧤 as a sound part; the simplified 铁 is a later shorthand.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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