正面

Chinese

		just (right); main; upright just (right); main; upright; straight; correct; principle; Chinese 1st month of year	face; side; surface face; side; surface; aspect; top
simp. and trad. (正面)		正	面

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): zhèngmiàn

(Zhuyin): ㄓㄥˋ ㄇㄧㄢˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): zing³ min⁶
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): chṳn-mien
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): chiàⁿ-bīn / chèng-biān

(Teochew, Peng'im): zian³ ming⁷

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: zhèngmiàn
  - Zhuyin: ㄓㄥˋ ㄇㄧㄢˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: jhèngmiàn
  - Wade–Giles: chêng⁴-mien⁴
  - Yale: jèng-myàn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jenqmiann
  - Palladius: чжэнмянь (čžɛnmjanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂɤŋ⁵¹⁻⁵³ mi̯ɛn⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: zing³ min⁶
  - Yale: jing mihn
  - Cantonese Pinyin: dzing³ min⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: jing³ min⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sɪŋ³³ miːn²²/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: chṳn-mien
  - Hakka Romanization System: ziin mien
  - Hagfa Pinyim: zin⁴ mian⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /t͡sɨn⁵⁵ mi̯en⁵⁵/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese, Magong, Sanxia, Tainan)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chiàⁿ-bīn
  - Tâi-lô: tsiànn-bīn
  - Phofsit Daibuun: cviarbin
  - IPA (Tainan): /t͡siã²¹⁻⁵³ bin³³/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡siã²¹⁻⁴¹ bin³³/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /t͡siã²¹⁻⁵³ bin²²/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡siã⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ bin⁴¹/
  - IPA (Taipei): /t͡siã¹¹⁻⁵³ bin³³/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chèng-biān
  - Tâi-lô: tsìng-biān
  - Phofsit Daibuun: zeangbien
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /t͡siɪŋ²¹⁻⁵³ biɛn²²/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: zian³ ming⁷
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tsiàⁿ mīng
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sĩã²¹³⁻⁵⁵ miŋ¹¹/

Adjective

正面

positive; good
正面形象 ― zhèngmiàn xíngxiàng ― positive image

正面影響／正面影响 ― zhèngmiàn yǐngxiǎng ― positive impact
direct; head-on
正面衝突／正面冲突 ― zhèngmiàn chōngtū ― head-on clash

請你正面回答我的問題。 [MSC, trad.]
请你正面回答我的问题。 [MSC, simp.]
Qǐng nǐ zhèngmiàn huídá wǒ de wèntí. [Pinyin]
Please answer my question directly.

Antonyms

反面 (fǎnmiàn)

Noun

正面

front; façade; frontage
right side; obverse
牛皮紙的正面／牛皮纸的正面 ― niúpízhǐ de zhèngmiàn ― the right side of kraft paper

25美分硬幣的正面是華盛頓總統的頭像。 [MSC, trad.]
25美分硬币的正面是华盛顿总统的头像。 [MSC, simp.]
25 měifēn yìngbì de zhèngmiàn shì Huáshèngdùn zǒngtǒng de tóuxiàng. [Pinyin]
The obverse of a quarter shows the profile of George Washington.
(anatomy) frontal plane
(Magong, Sanxia and Tainan Hokkien) right side; the right

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 右邊 (“right side; the right”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		右
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		右邊, 右手邊, 右側, 右面
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	右邊兒
	Taiwan	右邊
	Harbin	右邊兒拉, 右手
	Singapore	右邊
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	右邊兒
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Yantai (Muping)	右邊兒
Central Plains Mandarin	Luoyang	右邊兒, 右面兒
	Xi'an	右岸兒, 右邊兒, 右手
	Xining	右面, 右面兒, 右首
	Xuzhou	右邊兒
	Sokuluk (Gansu Dungan)	右邊
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	右面子
Lanyin Mandarin	Ürümqi	右邊兒, 右手, 右傍個
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	右邊, 右手邊, 右手
	Wuhan	右邊, 右手, 順手
	Guiyang	右手邊
	Liuzhou	右邊手
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	右邊
	Yangzhou	右邊, 右手
	Hefei	右邊
Cantonese	Guangzhou	右便, 右手便
	Hong Kong	右便, 右手便, 右邊, 右手邊
	Hong Kong (San Tin; Weitou)	右手邊
	Hong Kong (Kam Tin; Weitou)	右便
	Hong Kong (Ting Kok)	右邊
	Hong Kong (Tung Ping Chau)	右邊
	Macau	右便
	Guangzhou (Panyu)	右便
	Guangzhou (Huashan, Huadu)	右便
	Guangzhou (Conghua)	右便
	Guangzhou (Zengcheng)	右便
	Foshan	右便
	Foshan (Shatou, Nanhai)	右便
	Foshan (Shunde)	右便
	Foshan (Sanshui)	右便
	Foshan (Mingcheng, Gaoming)	右邊
	Zhongshan (Shiqi)	右便
	Zhuhai (Qianshan, Xiangzhou)	右便
	Zhuhai (Shangheng, Doumen; Tanka)	右便
	Zhuhai (Doumen)	右便
	Jiangmen (Baisha)	右便
	Jiangmen (Xinhui)	右邊
	Taishan	右邊
	Kaiping (Chikan)	右邊
	Enping (Niujiang)	右便
	Heshan (Yayao)	右便
	Dongguan	右邊, 右手便
	Shenzhen (Shajing, Bao'an)	右便
	Yangjiang	右便
	Singapore (Guangfu)	右便
Gan	Nanchang	右邊, 右手
	Lichuan	右首, 右邊
	Pingxiang	右邊, 右手邊, 右手
Hakka	Meixian	右片
	Huizhou (Huicheng; Bendihua)	右邊
	Dongguan (Qingxi)	右邊
	Shenzhen (Shatoujiao)	右邊
	Zhongshan (Nanlang Heshui)	右邊
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	右片, 右手片
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	右片, 右手片
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	右片, 右手片
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	右片, 右手片
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	右片, 右手片
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	正裡, 正手裡
	Hong Kong	右手析
Huizhou	Jixi	右邊
Jin	Taiyuan	右半切
Jin	Xinzhou	右半兒
Northern Min	Jian'ou	右邊, 右介, 正介, 正手, 正手一介, 順手一介, 正手一介塊, 順手一介塊
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	大邊
Southern Min	Xiamen	正爿, 正手爿, 大爿
	Quanzhou	正爿, 正手爿
	Jinjiang	正爿, 正手爿
	Zhangzhou	正爿, 正手爿
	Taipei	正爿
	New Taipei (Sanxia)	正面
	Kaohsiung	正爿
	Yilan	正爿
	Changhua (Lukang)	正爿
	Taichung	正爿
	Tainan	正面, 正手爿 GT
	Hsinchu	正爿
	Kinmen	正爿
	Penghu (Magong)	正面
	Penang (Hokkien)	正手爿
	Singapore (Hokkien)	正爿, 正手爿
	Manila (Hokkien)	正爿, 正手爿
	Longyan	正邊
	Chaozhou	正手爿, 右爿
	Shantou	正手爿, 右爿
	Jieyang	正手爿, 右爿
	Haikou	右排, 精排, 右邊手, 右排手, 右邊身, 右排身
Puxian Min	Putian	正爿
Puxian Min	Xianyou	正爿
Zhongshan Min	Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi)	右便
Wu	Shanghai	右面, 右邊, 右半爿
	Shanghai (Chongming)	右面, 右手
	Suzhou	右面
	Hangzhou	順手邊
	Ningbo	順手半邊
	Wenzhou	右面, 順手面
	Jinhua	順手面, 大手面, 順面手, 大面手, 右面, 右面手
	Jinhua (Tangxi)	大手邊爿
Xiang	Changsha	右邊
	Loudi	右手邊, 右首
	Shuangfeng	右邊
Note	GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified)

Antonyms

(antonym(s) of “front”): 側面／侧面 (cèmiàn), 背面 (bèimiàn)

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
正	面
しょう Grade: 1	めん Grade: 3
goon

Ultimately from Middle Chinese 正面 (MC tsyeng|tsyengH mjienH).

First attested in the early 1200s.^[1]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) しょーめん [shòóméꜜǹ] (Nakadaka – [3])^[2]^[3]^[4]
IPA^(key): [ɕo̞ːmẽ̞ɴ]

Noun

正(しょう)面(めん) • (shōmen) ^{←しやうめん (syaumen)^?}

[from early 1200s] front, façade (as of a building)
[from 1484] direct front side of something
正面(しょうめん)カメラ
shōmen kamera
camera positioned to capture from directly in front of a subject

正面(しょうめん)から見(み)る
shōmen kara miru
look from directly in front
[from 1903] straightforwardness, directness (especially in dealing with something)
Synonym: 真面 (matomo, “honesty, directness, straightforwardness”)
[from 1430] (Noh, theater) the front of the main stage
[from 1803] (sumo) the north side of the 土俵場 (dohyōba, “the raised square wrestling ring”)
Antonym: 裏正面 (ura-jōmen, “the south side of the 土俵場 (dohyōba, “the raised square wrestling ring”)”)
[late 1700s – ???] (historical) in the Shinagawa area of Edo, the front area of a brothel where prostitutes would show off and attract customers
Synonym: 張り見世 (harimise)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
正	面
まとも
Grade: 1	Grade: 3
jukujikun

Alternative spelling of 真面 (matomo), swapping out the broadly synonymous kanji 真 for 正.

Definitions

For pronunciation and definitions of 正面 – see the following entry.

【真面まとも】

[adjective] [from at least 1803] direct, straight, frontwards

[adjective] [from 1814] honest, proper, upright, correct, appropriate

Alternative spelling
真とも

(This term, 正面, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

References

^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean

Hanja in this term
正	面

Noun

正面 • (jeongmyeon) (hangeul 정면)

hanja form^? of 정면 (“front, façade”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
正	面

Adjective

正面

chữ Hán form of chính diện.
1. frontal; of the front/frontal side/face
2. being a literary protagonist or hero(ine)
Antonym: 反面 (phản diện)

[KDJ-1] Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-2] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-3] NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[SMK5-4] Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

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[2]

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