面子

Chinese

Etymology 1

		face; side; surface face; side; surface; aspect; top	child; son; (noun suffix) child; son; (noun suffix); small thing; seed; egg; 1st earthly branch; 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight
simp. and trad. (面子)		面	子

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): miànzi

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄧㄢˋ ˙ㄗ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): min⁶ zi²
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): mien-chṳ́
• Eastern Min (BUC): méng-cṳ̄
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): bīn-chú / bīn-chír / bīn-chí / biān-chú / biān-chír

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: miànzi
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄧㄢˋ ˙ㄗ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: miànzi̊h
    • Wade–Giles: mien⁴-tzŭ⁵
    • Yale: myàn-dz
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: miann.tzy
    • Palladius: мяньцзы (mjanʹczy)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mi̯ɛn⁵¹ d͡z̥z̩¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: min⁶ zi²
    • Yale: mihn jí
    • Cantonese Pinyin: min⁶ dzi²
    • Guangdong Romanization: min⁶ ji²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /miːn²² t͡siː³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: mien-chṳ́
    • Hakka Romanization System: mien zii^ˋ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: mian⁴ zi³
    • Sinological IPA: /mi̯en⁵⁵ t͡sɨ³¹/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: méng-cṳ̄
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /miŋ²¹³⁻⁵³ ^(t͡s-)ʒy³³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese, Philippines)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bīn-chú
    • Tâi-lô: bīn-tsú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: bixnzuo
    • IPA (Philippines): /bin⁴¹⁻²² t͡su⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Taipei): /bin³³⁻¹¹ t͡su⁵³/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /bin²²⁻²¹ t͡su⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /bin³³⁻²¹ t͡su⁴¹/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bīn-chír
    • Tâi-lô: bīn-tsír
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /bin⁴¹⁻²² t͡sɯ⁵⁵⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Philippines)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bīn-chí
    • Tâi-lô: bīn-tsí
    • Phofsit Daibuun: bixncie
    • IPA (Philippines): /bin⁴¹⁻²² t͡si⁵⁵⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, variant in Taiwan)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: biān-chú
    • Tâi-lô: biān-tsú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: biexnzuo
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /biɛn³³⁻²¹ t͡su⁴¹/
    • IPA (Taipei): /biɛn³³⁻¹¹ t͡su⁵³/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /biɛn²²⁻²¹ t͡su⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: biān-chír
    • Tâi-lô: biān-tsír
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /biɛn⁴¹⁻²² t͡sɯ⁵⁵⁴/

Noun

面子

1. outer part; outside; face
2. reputation; face; self-respect

   愛面子／爱面子  ―  ài miànzǐ  ―  to be sensitive about one's reputation

   挽回面子  ―  wǎnhuí miànzi  ―  to save face

3. feelings; sensibilities

   給他留面子／给他留面子  ―  gěi tā liú miànzǐ  ―  to spare his feelings

Synonyms

• (outer part): 面兒／面儿 (miànr), 一層／一层 (yīcéng)
• (reputation):

Dialectal synonyms of 面目 (“dignity; reputation; face”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		面目, 面子, 體面, 顏面, 臉面, 臉子
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	面子
	Malaysia	臉, 面子
	Singapore	面子
Central Plains Mandarin	Wanrong	面子
Cantonese	Guangzhou	面
	Hong Kong	面, 面子
	Singapore (Guangfu)	面
Southern Min	Xiamen	面子, 面皮
	Quanzhou	面皮
	Zhangzhou	面皮
	Penang (Hokkien)	面, 面皮
	Singapore (Hokkien)	面, 面皮
	Manila (Hokkien)	面, 面子, 面皮
	Singapore (Teochew)	面皮
Wu	Shanghai	面子

• (feelings): 臉皮／脸皮 (liǎnpí), 人情 (rénqíng), 情面 (qíngmiàn)

Derived terms

• 丟面子／丢面子 (diū miànzi)
• 做面子
• 光面子
• 夠面子／够面子
• 平面子
• 愛面子／爱面子 (ài miànzi)
• 找面子
• 擦面子
• 爭面子／争面子 (zhēng miànzi)
• 留面子
• 礙面子／碍面子 (ài miànzi)
• 給面子／给面子 (gěi miànzi)
• 老面子
• 要面子
• 講面子／讲面子
• 賣面子／卖面子
• 賞面子／赏面子
• 面子上
• 面子上的人
• 面子上的差使
• 面子上的話／面子上的话
• 面子工程 (miànzǐ gōngchéng)
• 面子情兒／面子情儿
• 面子話／面子话
• 顧面子／顾面子
• 駁面子／驳面子 (bó miànzi)

 

Descendants

• → Japanese: 面(メン)子(ツ) (mentsu)

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of 面子 – see 麵子 (“fine powder”). (This term is the simplified form of 麵子).

Notes: Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

Japanese

Kanji in this term
面	子
メン Grade: 3	ツ Grade: 1
irregular

For pronunciation and definitions of 面子 – see the following entry.

【メンツ】 [noun] face (reputation) [noun] (mahjong) player [noun] participant, member

(This term, 面子, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)