TongTong
Sign in

马戏 (mǎ xì) — circus

Definition

noun
circus
Measure word · 场

Examples

  • 马戏。
    Wǒ men zhōu mò qù kàn le mǎ xì biǎo yǎn.
    We went to see a circus performance at the weekend.
  • 马戏。
    Hái zi men duì mǎ xì fēi cháng gǎn xìng qù.
    The children are very interested in the circus.
  • 马戏。
    Xiǎo shí hou wǒ zuì dà de yuàn wàng jiù shì qù yí cì mǎ xì.
    When I was little, my biggest wish was to go to a circus.

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.

马mǎhorse
戏xìperformance

马 (horse) and 戏 (performance) combine to mean a horse show, later a circus.

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 馬; 马 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 馬 shows a horse with its head facing left, a flowing mane, and two legs standing vertically.

Open 马 →

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 戲; 戏 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
戈戈gēhalberd
Sound part声符shēngfú
䖒
䖒䖒戲xì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 戲, the shape combines 戈 (halberd) with 䖒, which gives the sound; the word originally meant an army's wing or flank. The simplified 戏 is a later shorthand, not the form described here.

Open 戏 →
Appears in
Dance & Performance

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