Word and Radical Components of 微笑

The Chinese word 微笑 is analysed below into its constituent words and the words into radicals. By seeing the breakdown of the word in this way you can more easily learn and recognise the word.

Component	Pinyin	Meanings
微笑	微xiào	1. v. to smile
		保持微笑 - to keep smiling
		2. n. smile

微笑 ⇨ 微 + 笑

Component	Pinyin	Meanings
微	微	1. tiny; small; trifling
		2. to decline; to deteriorate
		3. humble; low-ranking
		4. slight; gentle
		5. slightly; gently
		6. micro- (SI unit prefix)
		7. (Chinese linguistics) the Middle Chinese initial of (ltc-l, 微)
		8. (telegraphy) the fifth day of a month
		9. (mouth, eyes, etc.) to close slightly
		10. a little
笑	xiào	1. (intransitive) to laugh; to smile
		笑容 - smile
		唔識笑 - never smiles
		2. to laugh at; to ridicule
		點解你哋成seng4日笑我㗎？ - Why do you guys always laugh at me?
		3. (ditransitive) to laugh at; to ridicule
		笑佢唔識講廣東話waa6-2 - to make fun of them for not knowing how to speak Cantonese
		4. (literary, or in compounds) funny; amusing
		笑話 - joke, lit=funny words
		5. (obsolete, figurative) to blossom; to bloom
		6. (rare)

微 ⇨ 彳 +

Component	Pinyin	Meanings
彳	chì	1. to walk slowly
		2. to step with the left foot
		3. to suddenly stop when walking
		1.

笑 ⇨ ⺮ + 夭

Component	Pinyin	Meanings
竹	zhú	1. bamboo
		竹子zi - bamboo
		2. (musical instrument) musical instrument made of bamboo
		Zhu
夭	yāo	1. to die young, to die prematurely
		2. to be aggrieved
		3. to devastate
		4. disaster
	yāo	5. young, fresh-looking
		6. tender, gentle
		7. lush
		8. Alternative form of 妖
	ǎo	9. young animal or plant
	wò	10. name of an ancient place
	wāi	11. Only used in 夭斜

夭 ⇨ 丿 + 大

Component	Pinyin	Meanings
丿	piě	1. slash
	yì	2. left-falling stroke, usually read as 撇
		3. to arrive
大	dà	1. of great size; big; large; huge
		(ant, zh, 小)
		這個太大了！ (Zhè ge tài dà le!) - This is too big!
		呢ni1 條褲好大條。 - This pair of pants is very big.
		2. big; great
		中美關係已有很大改善。 (Zhōng Měi guānxì yǐ yǒu hěn dà gǎishàn.) - Relations between China and America have improved greatly.
		大不列顛 (Dàbùlièdiān) - Great Britain
		3. great of its kind
		昨天下大雨。 (Zuótiān xià dàyǔ.) - There was heavy rain yesterday.
		好大 ? 味 - a very strong smell
		4. in an extreme manner; greatly
		大哭 (dà kū) - to cry violently
		大吃一驚 (dàchīyījīng) - to be greatly shocked
		大不相同 (dà bù xiàngtóng) - to be greatly different
		你遇到這種情況，大可以走人哪na。 (Nǐ yùdào zhè zhǒng qíngkuàng, dà kěyǐ zǒurén na.) - If you come across this kind of situation, you absolutely can leave.
		你可不知道，他昨兒r 過來lai 大折zhē騰teng 了一場。好家伙huo，差chà點兒r.沒把這兒r 拆嘍！ (Nǐ kě bù zhīdào, tā zuór guòlai dà zhēteng le yī chǎng. Hǎojiāhuo, chàdiǎnr méi bǎ zhèr chāi lou!) - You don't even know, yest
		5. main; major
		(ant, zh, 小)
		他們將車一直開到大門口。 (Tāmen jiāng chē yīzhí kāi dào dà ménkǒu.) - They drove right up to the main gate.
		他是一家石油公司的大股東。 (Tā shì yījiā shíyóu gōngsī de dà gǔdōng.) - He is a major stockholder in an oil company.
		6. well-known; successful (only applied to some occupations)
		大書法家 (dà shūfǎjiā) - a well-known calligrapher
		7. mature; grown up
		(ant, zh, 小)
		你多大了？ (Nǐ duō dà le?) - How old are you?
		她比他大。 (Tā bǐ tā dà.) - She is older than him.
		你隻狗係咁大daai6-2 㗎喇。 - Your dog isn't going to grow any older.
		8. (Cantonese) to grow up
		喺廣州大 - to grow up in Guangzhou
		9. (Cantonese) to be older than
		(ant, zh, 細)
		我大佢兩年。 - I am older than them by two years.
		10. (dialectal) father
		11. (dialectal) father's elder or younger brother
		12. (Cantonese, slang) to intimidate; to threaten
		你大我呀aa4？ - Are you trying to intimidate me?
		你咪mai5 大我。 - Don't you threaten me.
		13. (Cantonese) only so big
		咁高咁大daai6-2 - gam3 gou1 gam3 daai6-2 - , C
		14. (Cantonese, euphemistic) number two
		我好急呀，要去大。 - I'm very desperate and need to go number two.
		15. Short for 大學 (gloss=university) Used only in the abbreviation of the name.
		北大 (Běidà) - Peking University
		16. 45th tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "greatness" (?)
	dài, dà	17. (zh-used in, 大夫, doctor)
		18. (zh-used in, 大王, tr=dàiwáng, (in operas, old novels, etc.) king; ringleader)
		19. (zh-used, 大黃, rhubarb)
		20. (zh-used in, 大城, tr=Dàichéng, Daicheng, Hebei)
		21. Alternative form of 待 (to be about to; to intend to)
		22. Alternative form of 代 (dynasty)
		23. (Cantonese) small
		咁大daai6-1 - so puny
		24. Variant of 太
		25. Variant of 泰