青丝 (qīng sī) — (literary) black hair of a woman; shredded green plums used in pastries; sliced preserved plums used as a dressing on food

Definition

A literary word with two unrelated senses: a poetic name for a woman's long black hair, and shredded/sliced preserved green plums used as a pastry filling or cold-dish topping. Context disambiguates which sense is meant.

noun
(literary) black hair of a womanshredded green plums used in pastriessliced preserved plums used as a dressing on food
Measure word · 缕

Examples

  • 青丝，。
    Tā de qīng sī rú pù bù bān chuí xià, shí fēn měi lì.
    Her black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, very beautiful.
  • 青丝，。
    Zhè zhǒng chuán tǒng gāo diǎn lǐ jiā le qīng sī, yǎo xià qù suān tián kě kǒu.
    This traditional pastry has shredded green plums added inside; it tastes sweet and sour when you bite into it.
  • 青丝。
    Tā xǐ huan zài liáng miàn shàng sā yì xiē qīng sī dāng tiáo wèi liào.
    He likes to sprinkle some sliced preserved plums on cold noodles as a dressing.

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.

青qīngdark
丝sīthread

Dark 青 threads 丝 describe black hair or green plum shreds.

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.

An early form of 青 combined 生 and 井, both used for sound; the modern form has changed.

Open 青 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 絲; 丝 is its simplified writing.

  • 糸糸mì
  • 糸糸mì

In the traditional form 絲, the shape is two 糸 written together; this is about 絲, not the simplified 丝.

Open 丝 →

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