Meaning of 面
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- face
- side
- surface
- aspect
- top
- classifier for objects with flat surfaces such as drums, mirrors, flags etc
- flour
- noodles
- (of food) soft (not crunchy)
- (slang) (of a person) ineffectual
- spineless
- variant of 麵|面[mian4]
How to use 面
面 appears in many common words about position and meeting, such as 对面 (duìmiàn, opposite) and 见面 (jiànmiàn, to meet). It also means noodles or flour, as in 面条儿 (miàntiáor), and works as a measure word for flat things like mirrors and flags. Example: 我们明天见面吧。(Wǒmen míngtiān jiànmiàn ba.) Let's meet tomorrow.
Think of 面 (miàn) as a framed face: the outer box is the outline of a head, and the lines inside suggest eyes and a nose. A face is the front surface of a person, which links to its other meanings like side and surface.
Common mistake: Learners often say 见面 with an object, like 见面你, but 见面 already contains its object, so say 跟你见面 (gēn nǐ jiànmiàn) instead. Also, do not confuse 面 with 而 (ér), which looks similar but lacks the full enclosed frame.
面 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.
面 miàn · face · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 面.
| 见面 | jiànmiàn | to meet; to see each other |
| 面包 | miànbāo | bread |
| 面条儿 | miàntiáor | erhua variant of 麵條|面条[mian4 tiao2] |
| 面前 | miànqián | in front of; facing |
| 方面 | fāngmiàn | respect; aspect |
| 对面 | duìmiàn | opposite; across (the street etc); directly in front of one; up ahead |
| 方便面 | fāngbiànmiàn | instant noodles |
| 里面 | lǐmiàn | inside; interior |
| 外面 | wàimiàn | outside (also pr. [wai4 mian5] for this sense); surface |
| 上面 | shàngmiàn | on top of; above-mentioned |
| 后面 | hòumiàn | the back; the rear; the last bit; behind; near the end; at the back |
| 下面 | xiàmiàn | below; under |
Questions about 面
What does 面 mean?
面 (miàn) means "face; side" and is used as a noun and measure word.
How do you write 面?
面 is made of 1 character: 面 (9 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.
Is 面 an HSK word?
Yes. 面 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why does 面 mean both face and noodles?
In traditional characters, noodles and flour were written 麵, a separate character. Simplified Chinese merged 麵 into 面, so one character now covers both meanings.
How do I use 面 as a measure word?
Use 面 for objects with a flat surface, such as 一面镜子 (yí miàn jìngzi, a mirror) or 一面旗 (yí miàn qí, a flag). It is not used for flat food like pancakes or for paper, which takes 张 (zhāng).