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养父母 (yǎng fù mǔ) — foster parents

Definition

noun
foster parents

Examples

  • 养父母。
    Tā cóng xiǎo yóu yǎng fù mǔ fǔ yǎng zhǎng dà.
    He was raised by his foster parents from a young age.
  • 养父母。
    yǎng fù mǔ Duì tā jiù xiàng qīn shēng fù mǔ yí yàng hǎo.
    His foster parents treat him as well as biological parents.
  • 养父母。
    Měi nián chūn jié tā dōu huí yǎng fù mǔ jiā guò nián.
    Every Spring Festival he goes back to his foster parents' home for the holiday.

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.

养yǎngfoster
父母parents
父fùfather母mǔmother
联合Coordinate

养 'foster' with 父母 'parents' names people who raise a child without birth ties.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 養; 养 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 養 uses 羊 as a sound part and 食 as a meaning part.

Open 养 →

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

The shape 父 shows a hand holding a stone blade, referring to a man working with a stone axe.

Open 父 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 母 →
Appears in
Family & Kinship

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