靠背 (kào bēi) — back of a chair; ornamental armor worn by military characters in Chinese opera

Definition

A concrete noun with two unrelated senses: the physical backrest of a chair, and a piece of ornamental armor worn by military characters in Chinese opera. Pronounced kàobèi as a chair part, but kàobēi in the opera sense.

noun
back of a chairornamental armor worn by military characters in Chinese opera
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 靠背，。
    Zhè bǎ yǐ zi de kào bēi hěn gāo, zuò zhe hěn shū fu.
    The back of this chair is very high, making it comfortable to sit in.
  • 靠背。
    Xì qǔ yǎn yuán de kào bēi shàng chā zhe sì miàn qí zi.
    The opera actor's armor has four flags inserted on the back.
  • 靠背。
    Tā mǎi le yì bǎ xīn kào bēi de bàn gōng yǐ.
    He bought a new office chair with a backrest.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

靠kàolean on
背bèiback part

靠 means to lean on, and 背 names the back part; the thing is one to lean on.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
非非fēi
Sound part声符shēngfú
告
告gào靠kào
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

靠 is made of 告 and 非: 告 gives the sound, and 非 gives the meaning.

Open 靠 →

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
月Written in full as肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
北
北běi背bèi
Same sound today

背 was first written as 北; 北 gives the sound, and 肉 (meat, written as 月 here) was added to separate it from 北’s north meaning.

Open 背 →

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