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太后 (tài hòu) — empress dowager

Definition

Empress dowager: the mother (or nominal mother) of the reigning emperor, often wielding real power behind the throne. Distinct from 太皇太后, who is the grandmother of the emperor.

noun
empress dowager
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 太后。
    Táng cháo de tài hòu hěn yǒu quán lì.
    The empress dowager of the Tang dynasty was very powerful.
  • 太后。
    tài hòu Zài cháo tíng shàng shuō huà hěn yǒu fèn liàng.
    The empress dowager's words carried great weight in the court.
  • 太后。
    Zhè bù diàn yǐng jiǎng shù le yí wèi tài hòu de yì shēng.
    This movie tells the story of an empress dowager's life.

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.

太tàihighest
后hòuempress

太 means highest or great, 后 means empress, naming the emperor's mother.

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.

太 is a modified form of 大, with an extra dot added to show 'too big'.

Open 太 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 後; 后 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 後 showed 夊 (foot) bound by 幺 (thread), a foot caught by a rope and lagging behind; the simplified 后 is a later abbreviation, and 后 also has a different meaning.

Open 后 →
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