Meaning of 服
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- clothes
- dress
- garment
- to serve (in the military, a prison sentence etc)
- to obey
- to be convinced (by an argument)
- to convince
- to admire
- classifier for medicine: dose
- Taiwan pr. [fu2]
How to use 服
On its own, 服 often means to accept or be convinced, as in 我服了 (wǒ fú le), "I give up, you win." Most of the time you will meet it in compounds like 衣服 (yīfu), 舒服 (shūfu), and 服务 (fúwù). Example: 这家饭店的服务很好。(Zhè jiā fàndiàn de fúwù hěn hǎo.) The service at this restaurant is very good.
The left side of 服 (fú) looks like 月, and the right side looks like a hand pressing someone down. Picture a person being pressed into a uniform and made to serve and obey, which links the meanings clothes, serve, and obey.
Common mistake: In 衣服 (yīfu) and 舒服 (shūfu), 服 is said in the neutral tone, so learners who stress it as a full second tone sound unnatural. Also, do not confuse the left part with 月 in 朋 (péng). Its last stroke on the right side is a hook, not a separate character.
服 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
服 fú · clothes · 8 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 服.
| 衣服 | yīfu | clothes |
| 舒服 | shūfu | comfortable; feeling well |
| 服务 | fúwù | to serve; service |
| 服装 | fúzhuāng | dress; clothing |
| 克服 | kèfú | (try to) overcome (hardships etc); to conquer |
| 服务员 | fúwùyuán | waiter; waitress |
| 说服 | shuōfú | to persuade; to convince |
| 征服 | zhēngfú | to conquer; to subdue |
| 服从 | fúcóng | to obey (an order); to comply |
| 羽绒服 | yǔróngfú | down jacket; down coat |
| 制服 | zhìfú | to subdue; to check |
| 服用 | fúyòng | to take (medicine) |
Questions about 服
What does 服 mean?
服 (fú) means "clothes; dress" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 服?
服 is made of 1 character: 服 (8 strokes). That is 8 strokes in total.
Is 服 an HSK word?
Yes. 服 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 不服 (bù fú) mean?
不服 means you refuse to accept something or are not convinced, such as a decision or a defeat. For example, 他输了还不服 (tā shū le hái bù fú) means "He lost but still won't accept it."
How is 服 used for taking medicine?
服 can mean to take medicine, as in 服药 (fú yào), which is more formal than 吃药 (chī yào). As a classifier for a dose of Chinese medicine, it is read fù in mainland China, for example 一服药 (yí fù yào), though Taiwan uses fú.