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女子 (nǚ zǐ) — woman; female

Definition

A formal or literary word for 'woman' — more common in writing than 女人 (everyday) and more gender-focused than 女性 (which emphasizes the female sex as a category).

noun
womanfemale
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 女子。
    Tā shì yí wèi yōu xiù de nǚ zǐ.
    She is an outstanding woman.
  • 女子。
    Zhè wèi nǚ zǐ shì lái zì běi jīng de yī shēng.
    This woman is a doctor from Beijing.
  • 女子。
    Hěn duō nǚ zǐ dōu xǐ huan guàng jiē.
    Many women like to go shopping.

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nǚfemale
子zǐperson

女 gives female and 子 gives person, yielding a woman.

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 →

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

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Open 子 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5People (General)5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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