公婆 (gōng pó) — husband's parents (father-in-law and mother-in-…

Definition

Colloquial term for one's husband's parents, treated as a pair. Used from the wife's perspective in everyday family talk — more casual than 岳父岳母.

noun

husband's parents (father-in-law and mother-in-law)

公婆。
Wǒ de gōng pó duì wǒ xiàng qīn shēng nǚ ér yí yàng hǎo.
My husband's parents treat me like their own daughter.
，公婆。
Chūn jié de shí hou, wǒ men dōu yào huí gōng pó jia guò nián.
During Spring Festival, we all go back to my husband's parents' home to celebrate the new year.
，公婆。
Jié hūn yǐ hòu, tā hé gōng pó xiāng chǔ dé hěn róng qià.
After getting married, she got along very well with her parents-in-law.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

公gōngfather-in-law

婆pómother-in-law

公 (father-in-law) and 婆 (mother-in-law) together mean husband's parents.

Characters in this word

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

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

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

波女婆

Meaning part形符xíngfú

女女nǚwoman

Sound part声符shēngfú

波

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

婆 pairs 女 (woman) with 波, which gives the sound. The 女 part shows the character is about a woman.

Appears in