姑婆 (gū pó) — grandfather's sister (paternal great-aunt); sister of a woman's father-in-law

Definition

A kinship term for a paternal great-aunt: father's father's sister (paternal line) or sister of a woman's father-in-law (by marriage). Distinguish from 姑妈 (father's sister, one generation closer).

noun
grandfather's sister (paternal great-aunt)sister of a woman's father-in-law
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 姑婆，。
    Wǒ gū pó jīn nián bā shí suì le, shēn tǐ hái hěn jiàn kāng.
    My great-aunt (grandfather's sister) is eighty years old this year and still very healthy.
  • ，姑婆。
    Tā jià guò qù yǐ hòu, duì gū pó fēi cháng xiào shùn.
    After she got married, she was very filial toward her husband's great-aunt (sister of her father-in-law).
  • 姑婆。
    Guò nián shí wǒ men quán jiā qù kàn wàng gū pó.
    During the New Year, our whole family went to visit great-aunt.

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.

姑gūfather's sister
婆pógrandmother

姑 points to a father's-sister line and 婆 to a grandmother generation: a great-aunt.

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
女女nǚwoman
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ姑gū
Same sound today

The left part 女 marks it as a woman, and the right part 古 provides the sound. It is used for female relatives like an aunt or mother-in-law.

Open 姑 →

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
女女nǚwoman
Sound part声符shēngfú
波
波bō婆pó
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

婆 pairs 女 (woman) with 波, which gives the sound. The 女 part shows the character is about a woman.

Open 婆 →

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