鬓 (bìn): temples

Meanings

1 temples
2 hair on the temples
3 sideburns

Characters

鬓

bìn

temples; hair on the temples

Examples

HSK 2

他的鬓角已经白了。

Tā de bìnjiǎo yǐjīng bái le.

His temples have already turned white.

HSK 5

她用发夹将鬓发别在耳后。

Tā yòng fàjiā jiāng bìnfà bié zài ěr hòu.

She pinned her temple hair behind her ear with a clip.

Tips

usage

鬓 is often used in compounds: 鬓角 (temples/sideburns), 鬓发 (hair at the temples), and 鬓毛 (hair on the temples). Poets frequently use the whitening of the temples as a metaphor for aging.

Components

radical

髟 biāo

long flowing hair

Top hair radical 髟 - the long-hair Kangxi radical, drawn as a long-hair shape combined with three flowing strands. It indexes 鬓 and the whole hair family: 鬃 mane, 髻 topknot. Anything tied to hairstyle or facial hair takes this top cap.

phonetic

宾 bīn

guest

Bottom 宾 supplies the sound - bīn shifts to bìn, only a tone change. The traditional form was 鬢 with phonetic 賓; the simplified 宾 inherits that role unchanged. 鬓 names the hair at the temples, the patch that greys first in classical poetry about ageing.