颜面 (yán miàn) — (social) face, dignity, prestige | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

颜面 refers to one's social 'face' — dignity and reputation in others' eyes. Similar to 面子, but more formal and written, often used for institutions or public standing.

noun

(social) facedignityprestige

Examples

颜面。
Tā zhè me zuò shì wèi le bǎo quán gōng sī de yán miàn.
He did this to save the company's face.
颜面。
Zhè jiàn shì ràng tā yán miàn jìn shī.
This incident caused him to lose all face.
，颜面。
Zài tán pàn zhōng, shuāng fāng dōu gù jí bǐ cǐ de yán miàn.
During the negotiations, both sides considered each other's dignity.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

Both 颜 and 面 refer to the face, so together they mean social face or dignity.

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 顏; 颜 is its simplified writing.

彥頁顏

Meaning part形符xíngfú

頁頁yèhead

Sound part声符shēngfú

彥

彥yàn顏⁰yán

Same sound today

The traditional form 顏, not the simplified 颜, pairs 彥 as a sound part with 頁, a head, for face or countenance.

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.

Appears in

Abstract Concepts

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