堂兄 (táng xiōng) — elder male cousin on father's side (same surnam…

Definition

A paternal male cousin older than you (father's brother's son, same surname). The female counterpart is 堂姐; maternal cousins use 表 (e.g. 表哥).

noun

elder male cousin on father's side (same surname)

Measure word · 位

堂兄，。
Wǒ de táng xiōng bǐ wǒ dà liǎng suì, wǒ men cóng xiǎo yì qǐ zhǎng dà.
My elder paternal cousin is two years older than me; we grew up together.
堂兄，。
Tā shì wǒ táng xiōng, bú shì biǎo gē.
He is my paternal cousin, not my maternal cousin.
堂兄。
Zhè ge zhōu mò wǒ yào qù táng xiōng jiā chī fàn.
This weekend I'm going to my cousin's house for dinner.

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.

堂tángpaternal household

兄xiōngelder brother

堂 points to the father's household and 兄 means elder brother, so it is an elder male cousin.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

尚

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

堂 uses 土 as a ground/earth part and 尚 for sound.

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

口儿兄

The shape 兄 puts 口, a mouth, above 儿 to express the idea of giving orders; this fits the old meaning of an elder brother.

Appears in