About
颜 refers to the human face, facial expressions, personal prestige, and specific colors or pigments. It is a phono-semantic compound with the semantic radical 页 (yè) on the right, originally depicting a human head and thus linking the character’s core meaning to the face or facial features. The left component, 彦 (yàn), meaning an elegant or accomplished person, serves as the phonetic element providing the pronunciation. Over time, the character’s meaning expanded from the literal face and a person’s social dignity to include the appearance of objects, eventually solidifying its common secondary definition related to vivid hues, pigments, and artistic materials.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
这个颜色真好看。
她的容颜很美。
他露出了笑颜。
这关系到我的颜面。
天空的颜色是蓝色的。
我喜欢用颜料画画。
他不顾颜面地大声争吵。
这种颜料的颜色非常持久，而且环保。