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女巫 (nǚ wū) — witch, sorceress

Definition

Literally 'female shaman/wizard', 女巫 is a cultural term for a witch in fairy tales, folklore, and Western pop culture (e.g. Halloween). It implies a woman with magical powers, often with a stereotypical image.

noun
witchsorceress
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 女巫。
    Tóng huà lǐ cháng cháng yǒu nǚ wū chū xiàn.
    Witches often appear in fairy tales.
  • 女巫。
    Tā dǎ bàn chéng nǚ wū qù cān jiā wàn shèng jié pài duì.
    She dressed up as a witch to go to the Halloween party.
  • 女巫。
    Diàn yǐng lǐ de nǚ wū huì shǐ yòng mó fǎ.
    The witch in the movie can use magic.

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
巫wūshaman

“女” (female) plus “巫” (shaman) gives a female shaman, i.e. a witch.

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 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 巫 →
Appears in
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