使女 (shǐ nǚ) — maid, housemaid

Definition

A domestic servant / maid in a household. More literary or period-flavored than everyday words like 保姆; the example sentences use historical 'master' (主人) framing, suggesting an older or traditional setting.

noun
maidhousemaid
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 使女。
    Tā zài nà ge dà fáng zi lǐ dāng shǐ nǚ.
    She works as a maid in that big house.
  • 使女。
    Zhǔ rén duì shǐ nǚ men hěn kè qi.
    The master is very polite to the maids.
  • 使女。
    Měi tiān zǎo chén shǐ nǚ dōu yào dǎ sǎo fáng jiān.
    Every morning the maid has to clean the rooms.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

使shǐuse
女nǚwoman

使 means used or kept for service, and 女 means woman, so it denotes a woman kept for service.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
吏
吏lì使shǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

使 pairs 亻 (person) with 吏, which pictures a hand holding something like a flag, giving the sense of a representative or ambassador.

Open 使 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

女 shows a woman with folded arms, kneeling or standing. In the modern form the figure faces right, and the small enclosed part is what is left of one arm.

Open 女 →

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