TongTong
Sign in

门房 (mén fáng) — (noun) gatehouse; porter's lodge; (noun) gatekeeper; doorman; janitor; (noun) distant relative (less common, dated)

Definition

门房 has two related senses: the place (gatehouse/porter's lodge where the doorman sits) and the person (doorman, porter, janitor). The 'distant relative' sense is dated and rare.

noun
gatehouseporter's lodgegatekeeperdoormanjanitordistant relative (less common, dated)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 门房，。
    Xiǎo qū de mén fáng hěn zhěng jié, lǐ miàn fàng le jǐ bǎ yǐ zi.
    The community's gatehouse is very tidy, with a few chairs inside.
  • 门房。
    Lǎo zhāng zài jiǔ diàn dāng mén fáng yǐ jīng shí nián le.
    Old Zhang has been working as a doorman at the hotel for ten years.
  • 门房，。
    mén fáng Gào sù wǒ, lái fǎng de kè rén yào dēng jì.
    The gatekeeper told me that visiting guests need to register.

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.

门méngate
房fángroom

门 and 房 combine: a 房 by the 门, hence gatehouse or gatekeeper's lodge.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 門; 门 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 門 pictures a gate as two door shapes side by side; the simplified 门 is a later shorthand.

Open 门 →

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
戶戶hùdoor
Sound part声符shēngfú
方
方fāng房fáng
Same sound today

房 pairs 戶 (door) with 方 (fāng) as a sound part; 方 can also fit 'side,' as in a side room beside the main room.

Open 房 →
Appears in
Buildings & StructuresProfessions & Jobs

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.