TongTong
Sign in

姘头 (pīn tóu) — (derogatory) mistress; lover of a married person

Definition

A derogatory noun for a lover outside marriage — the 'mistress' or 'paramour' of a married person. It implies an illicit, socially condemned relationship, not a normal boyfriend/girlfriend.

noun
(derogatory) mistresslover of a married person
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 姘头，。
    Dà jiā dōu shuō tā shì tā de pīn tóu, dàn shuí yě méi yǒu zhèng jù.
    Everyone says she's his mistress, but nobody has proof.
  • 姘头，。
    Tā yīn wèi yǒu le pīn tóu, zuì hòu gēn qī zi lí hūn le.
    He ended up divorcing his wife because he had a mistress.
  • ，姘头。
    Zài diàn yǐng lǐ, zhè ge jué sè shì tā de qián pīn tóu.
    In the movie, this character is his former mistress.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

姘pīnillicit liaison
头tóucolloquial ending

姘 denotes an illicit liaison, and 头 gives it a colloquial sense of the person involved.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 頭; 头 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
豆
豆dòu頭tóu
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 頭 shows 頁, meaning head, beside 豆 as a sound component; the simplified 头 is a later shorthand.

Open 头 →
Appears in
Romance & Marriage

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.