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顏: color; face

By June 11, 2015January 16th, 2017Chinese Word, Japanese Word, Language-Learning

 

顏 [颜] liǎn

noun
: color
: face
: countenance

Kun Reading

顔 | かお kao

noun
: face (person)

顔 | かんばせ kanbase

noun
: (Archaism) countenance; visage
: face; honor; dignity

On Reading

がん gan

 Usage:

顏[颜]色 yan2se4: color; countenance; appearance; facial expression; pigment; dyestuff
[顔色 | かおいろ kaoiro: complexion; one’s color
: countenance; expression; one’s face]
顏[颜]厚 yan2hou4: brazen
厚顏[颜] hou4yan2: shameless
[厚顔 | こうがん kougan: impudence; audacity]
容顏[颜] rong2yan2: mien; complexion
[容顔 | ようがん yougan: features; looks]
慈顏[颜] ci2yan2: one’s mother’s loving face
汗顏[颜] han4yan2: to blush with shame (literary)
[汗顔 | かんがん kangan: ashamed]



Japanese expression | yojijukugo 四字熟語 | idiom | proverb
顔面紅潮 | がんめんこうちょう ganmen kouchou
: (yoji) one’s face turning red; with a flush on one’s face

顔面蒼白 | がんめんそうはく ganmen souhaku
: (yoji) one’s face turning pale (ashen); the color being drained from one’s face

笑顔千両 | えがおせんりょう egao senryou
: (yoji) beautiful smile; there being a great charm about one’s smile

知らぬ顔 | しらぬかお shiranu kao
: pretending not to know; feigning ignorance

満面笑顔 | まんめんえがお manmen egao
: (yoji) (with) one’s face beaming with joy; smiling from ear to ear

顔をつぶす | かおをつぶす kao o tsubusu
: to make somebody lose face; to cause loss of face; to embarrass someone; to make someone look foolish

顔を上げる | かおをあげる kao o ageru
: to raise one’s face; to lift one’s head; to raise one’s eyes

顔を利かす | かおをきかす kao o kikasu
: to use one’s influence

顔を立てる | かおをたてる kao o tateru
: to save face

顔をつぶす | かおをつぶす kao o tsubusu
: to make somebody lose face; to cause loss of face; to embarrass someone; to make someone look foolish

顔色が悪い | かおいろがわるい kaoiro ga warui
: looking pale; looking unwell

顔に紅葉を散らす | かおにもみじをちらす kao ni momiji o chirasu
: (for a woman) to blush

猫が顔を洗うと雨が降る | ねこがかおをあらうとあめがふる neko ga kao o arau t oame ga furu
: (proverb) if a cat washes its face, rain is coming



Chinese expression | chengyu 成語 | idiom
紅顏薄命 [红颜薄命] hong2 yan2 bo2 ming4
: beautiful women suffer unhappy fates

顏厚有忸怩 [颜厚有忸怩] yan2 hou4 you3 niu3 ni2
: even the most brazen person will sometimes feel shame

給你點顏色看看 [给你点颜色看看] gei3 ni3 dian3 yan2 se4 kan4 kan5
: (I’ll) teach you a lesson; put you in your place

 Etymology:


形声 Pictophonetic.
頁 (ye4: leaf radical 181) suggests the meaning while
彦 (yan4: elegant) provides the sound.



簡體 Simplified.
颜. Derived from generic character simplification rule #120 (頁 » 页).



Historical / Japanese variant:



 Examples:
這裙子的顏色不錯。
zhe qun2zi de yan2se4 bu4cuo4
This skirt has a nice color to it.

Resources: Chinese Dictionary | Japanese Dictionary