女婿 (nǚ xu) — son-in-law (daughter's husband)

Definition

The formal word for 'son-in-law' (your daughter's husband). Contrast with 媳妇: that means daughter-in-law (or colloquially 'wife') — 女婿 is the opposite side, the husband who married into the family.

noun

son-in-law (daughter's husband)

Measure word · 个

Examples

女婿，。
Zhè shì wǒ de nǚ xu, tā zài yín háng gōng zuò.
This is my son-in-law; he works at a bank.
女婿？
Nǐ nǚ xu duì nǐ nǚ ér hǎo ma?
Is your son-in-law good to your daughter?
女婿。
Wǒ jiě jie de nǚ xu shì gè hěn fù zé de rén.
My older sister's son-in-law is a very responsible person.

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.

女nǚdaughter

婿xùhusband

'女' points to the daughter, and '婿' to her husband; together they mean daughter's husband.

Characters in this word

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 →

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

女胥婿

Meaning part形符xíngfú

女女nǚ

Sound part声符shēngfú

胥

胥xū婿xù

Same sound today

婿 joins 女, a woman, with 胥, which gives the sound.

Open 婿 →

Appears in