面部 (miàn bù) — face, facial area (body part) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Formal/literary noun for the 'face' as a body region — used in clinical or technical contexts (e.g. 面部皮肤, 面部识别). For everyday 'face', use 脸; for the figurative sense of 'social face', use 面子.

noun

facefacial area (body part)

Measure word · 个

Examples

面部。
Xiàn zài hěn duō shǒu jī dōu yòng le miàn bù shí bié gōng néng.
Many phones now use facial recognition.
面部。
Tā de miàn bù pí fū fēi cháng mǐn gǎn.
Her facial skin is very sensitive.
面部。
Yī shēng zǐ xì jiǎn chá le tā de miàn bù shén jīng.
The doctor carefully examined his facial nerves.

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.

“面” means face, “部” means part; together they refer to the face area.

Characters in this word

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

面 originally drew a man’s face, with one eye exaggerated; the horizontal stroke was added later.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

咅

咅pǒu部bù

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

部 pairs 咅, which gives the sound, with 邑. It originally named a place in today's Gansu.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 Body Parts

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