面子

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 pm-1 am; midnight
simp. and trad. (面子)		面	子

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): miànzi

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄧㄢˋ ˙ㄗ

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

---

• 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): /mjɛn⁵¹ d͡z̥z̩¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: min⁶ zi²
    • Yale: mihn jí
    • Cantonese Pinyin: min⁶ dzi²
    • Guangdong Romanization: min⁶ ji²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /miːn²² t͡siː³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: mien-chṳ́
    • Hakka Romanization System: mien zii`
    • Hagfa Pinyim: mian⁴ zi³
    • Sinological IPA: /mi̯en⁵⁵ t͡sɨ³¹/
• Min Dong
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: méng-cṳ̄
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /miŋ²¹³⁻⁵³ ^(t͡s-)ʒy³³/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bīn-chú
    • Tâi-lô: bīn-tsú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: bixnzuo
    • 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: 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
Mandarin	Taiwan	面子
	Wanrong	面子
	Malaysia	臉, 面子
	Singapore	面子
Cantonese	Guangzhou	面
	Hong Kong	面, 面子
	Singapore (Guangfu)	面
Min Nan	Xiamen	面子, 面皮
	Quanzhou	面皮
	Zhangzhou	面皮
	Penang (Hokkien)	面, 面皮
	Singapore (Hokkien)	面, 面皮
	Manila (Hokkien)	面皮
	Singapore (Teochew)	面皮
Wu	Shanghai	面子

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

Derived terms

Derived terms from 面子

做面子 光面子 平面子 找面子 擦面子 留面子 老面子 要面子 面子上 面子上的人 面子上的差使 面子工程 (miànzǐ gōngchéng) 丟面子／丢面子 (diū miànzi)

夠面子／够面子 愛面子／爱面子 (ài miànzi) 爭面子／争面子 (zhēng miànzi) 礙面子／碍面子 (ài miànzi) 給面子／给面子 (gěi miànzi) 講面子／讲面子 賞面子／赏面子 賣面子／卖面子 面子上的話／面子上的话 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, 面子, 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.)