形容

Chinese

		to appear; to look; form to appear; to look; form; shape	to hold; to contain; to allow to hold; to contain; to allow; appearance; look; countenance
simp. and trad. (形容)		形	容

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): xíngróng

(Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄥˊ ㄖㄨㄥˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): jing⁴ jung⁴
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): hìn-yùng

(Hailu, HRS): hin rhung
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): hêng-iông

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: xíngróng
  - Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄥˊ ㄖㄨㄥˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: síngróng
  - Wade–Giles: hsing²-jung²
  - Yale: syíng-rúng
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyngrong
  - Palladius: синжун (sinžun)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕiŋ³⁵ ʐʊŋ³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: jing⁴ jung⁴
  - Yale: yìhng yùhng
  - Cantonese Pinyin: jing⁴ jung⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: ying⁴ yung⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɪŋ²¹ jʊŋ²¹/
Hakka
- (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: hìn-yùng
  - Hakka Romanization System: hin^ˇ iung^ˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: hin² yung²
  - Sinological IPA: /hin¹¹ i̯uŋ¹¹/
- (Southern Sixian, incl. Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: hìn-yùng
  - Hakka Romanization System: hin^ˇ (r)iung^ˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: hin² yung²
  - Sinological IPA: /hin¹¹ (j)i̯uŋ¹¹/
- (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
  - Hakka Romanization System: hin rhung
  - Sinological IPA: /hin⁵⁵ ʒuŋ⁵⁵/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hêng-iông
  - Tâi-lô: hîng-iông
  - Phofsit Daibuun: heng'ioong
  - Sinological IPA (Xiamen): /hiɪŋ²⁴⁻²² iɔŋ²⁴/
  - Sinological IPA (Quanzhou): /hiɪŋ²⁴⁻²² iɔŋ²⁴/
  - Sinological IPA (Zhangzhou): /hiɪŋ¹³⁻²² iɔŋ¹³/
  - Sinological IPA (Taipei): /hiɪŋ²⁴⁻¹¹ iɔŋ²⁴/
  - Sinological IPA (Kaohsiung): /hiɪŋ²³⁻³³ iɔŋ²³/

Verb

形容

to describe

Synonyms

edit

刻畫 / 刻画 (kèhuà)
塑造 (sùzào)
描寫 / 描写 (miáoxiě)
描摹 (miáomó)
描畫 / 描画 (miáohuà)
描繪 / 描绘 (miáohuì)
描述 (miáoshù)
摹寫 / 摹写 (móxiě)
繪 / 绘 (literary, or in compounds)

Derived terms

形容動詞 / 形容动词 (xíngróng dòngcí)
形容詞 / 形容词 (xíngróngcí)
無法形容 / 无法形容

Noun

形容

(literary) facial appearance; looks; countenance
- 至午時，有一人形容醜黑，身長八尺，荷笠莎衣，荷鋤而至。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
  至午时，有一人形容丑黑，身长八尺，荷笠莎衣，荷锄而至。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]
  From: Taiping Guangji (Extensive Records of the Taiping Era), 978 CE
  Zhì wǔshí, yǒu yīrén xíngróng chǒu hēi, shēncháng bā chǐ, hé lì suō yī, hè chú ér zhì. [Pinyin]
  At noon a man wearing a lotus-leaf hat and straw cloak came to the temple with a hoe in hand. He was over eight feet tall and had a very unpleasant dark countenance.

Synonyms

edit

人才 (réncái)
儀容 / 仪容 (yíróng) (of a person)
儀表 / 仪表 (yíbiǎo) (of a person)
外形 (wàixíng)
外相 (Quanzhou Hokkien, Xiamen Hokkien)
外範 / 外范 (Xiamen Hokkien)
外表 (wàibiǎo)
外觀 / 外观 (wàiguān)
外貌 (wàimào)
姿容 (zīróng)
容貌 (róngmào, “facial features”)
容顏 / 容颜 (róngyán, “facial features”)
尊容 (zūnróng) (ironic or honorific, of a person)
尪仔頭 / 尪仔头 (Xiamen Hokkien, Zhangzhou Hokkien)
形投 (Hakka)
形貌 (xíngmào)
樣子 / 样子 (yàngzi)
模樣 / 模样 (of a person)
樣貌 / 样貌 (yàngmào)
相貌 (xiàngmào) (of a person)
瞻視 / 瞻视 (zhānshì) (literary)
稿 (gǎo) (literary, or in compounds)
觀瞻 / 观瞻 (guānzhān)
貌相 (màoxiàng) (of a person)
賣相 / 卖相 (màixiàng) (originally Wu)
長相 / 长相 (of a person)
面容 (miànróng, “facial features”)
面容仔 (“facial features”) (Hakka)
面水 (Hokkien)
面貌 (miànmào)
顏容 / 颜容 (yánróng, “facial features”)
體面 / 体面 (tǐmiàn)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (形容):

→ Japanese: 形容(けいよう) (keiyō)
→ Korean: 형용(形容) (hyeong'yong)
→ Vietnamese: hình dung (形容)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
形	容
けい Grade: 2	よう Grade: 5
on'yomi

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ke̞ːjo̞ː]

Noun

形(けい)容(よう) • (keiyō)

description
(archaic) appearance, form

Derived terms

形容詞(けいようし) (keiyōshi, “adjective”)
形容動詞(けいようどうし) (keiyōdōshi, “adjectival noun, quasi-adjective, -na adjective”):

Verb

形(けい)容(よう)する • (keiyō suru) suru (stem 形(けい)容(よう)し (keiyō shi), past 形(けい)容(よう)した (keiyō shita))

to describe

Conjugation

Conjugation of "形容する" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs)
Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	形容し	けいようし	keiyō shi
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	形容し	けいようし	keiyō shi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	形容する	けいようする	keiyō suru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	形容する	けいようする	keiyō suru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	形容すれ	けいようすれ	keiyō sure
Meireikei ("imperative")	形容せよ¹ 形容しろ²	けいようせよ¹ けいようしろ²	keiyō seyo¹ keiyō shiro²
Key constructions
Passive	形容される	けいようされる	keiyō sareru
Causative	形容させる形容さす	けいようさせるけいようさす	keiyō saseru keiyō sasu
Potential	形容できる	けいようできる	keiyō dekiru
Volitional	形容しよう	けいようしよう	keiyō shiyō
Negative	形容しない	けいようしない	keiyō shinai
Negative continuative	形容せず	けいようせず	keiyō sezu
Formal	形容します	けいようします	keiyō shimasu
Perfective	形容した	けいようした	keiyō shita
Conjunctive	形容して	けいようして	keiyō shite
Hypothetical conditional	形容すれば	けいようすれば	keiyō sureba

¹ Written imperative
² Spoken imperative

References

“形容”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026