洋服

yángfú
noun #30,275

Measure Word

Meanings

  1. 1 Western-style clothes
  2. 2 Western-style suit

Examples

Tā chuān zhe yìshēn bǐtǐng de yángfú.
He wore a sharply tailored Western suit.
Mínguó shíqí, yángfú kāishǐ liúxíng.
During the Republican era, Western clothing began to come into vogue.

Tips

register
洋服 is somewhat dated; 西装 (xīzhuāng, "Western suit") is the standard modern term. 洋服 still appears in literature, period dramas, and Cantonese-speaking regions, evoking early 20th-century China when Western dress contrasted with (Chinese clothing).
history
("ocean / overseas") was the late-Qing prefix for anything imported: (matches), (cement), 洋服 (Western suit). Many of these terms have been replaced by neutral modern equivalents as the foreign-import association faded.

Stroke Order

yáng