鸡皮 (jī pí) — chicken skin (as food or material); (metaphor) wrinkled skin on an old person's face

Definition

Literally 'chicken skin' (the food or material). Metaphorically refers to the loose, wrinkled skin on an old person's face — like the surface of cooked chicken skin.

noun
chicken skin (as food or material)(metaphor) wrinkled skin on an old person's face

Examples

  • 鸡皮，。
    Wǒ bù xǐ huan chī jī pí, tài yóu nì le.
    I don't like eating chicken skin; it's too greasy.
  • 鸡皮，。
    Nǎi nai de liǎn shàng zhǎng mǎn le jī pí, kàn qǐ lái xiàng lǎo shù pí.
    Grandma's face is covered in wrinkled skin, looking like old tree bark.
  • 鸡皮，。
    Zhè kuài jī pí hěn hòu, kě yǐ yòng lái zuò tāng.
    This piece of chicken skin is very thick; it can be used to make soup.

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.

鸡jīchicken
皮pískin

鸡 names the animal and 皮 names the skin, so the word denotes the skin of a chicken.

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 雞; 鸡 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
隹隹zhuīshort-tailed bird
Sound part声符shēngfú
奚
奚xī雞jī
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 雞 pairs 奚, which gives the sound, with 隹, a short-tailed bird. The simplified 鸡 is a later shorthand, and its right side is not the historical 奚.

Open 鸡 →

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

皮 shows a hand pulling fur off an animal pelt, with the pelt drawn at the upper left.

Open 皮 →

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