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姨父 (yí fu) — husband of one's maternal aunt (mother's sister's husband)

Definition

Strictly the husband of your mother's sister (maternal aunt). Distinct from 舅舅 (mother's brother) and 叔叔 (father's younger brother). Used in mainland China; some regions prefer 姨夫 or 姨丈.

noun
husband of one's maternal aunt (mother's sister's husband)
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 姨父。
    Wǒ de yí fu shì yí wèi yī shēng.
    My uncle (maternal aunt's husband) is a doctor.
  • 姨父。
    Měi nián chūn jié wǒ men dōu huì qù yí fu jiā bài nián.
    Every Spring Festival we go to my uncle's house to pay a New Year's visit.
  • 姨父，。
    yí fu Duì wǒ hěn hǎo, jiù xiàng fù qīn yí yàng.
    My uncle is very kind to me, just like a father.

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.

姨yímaternal aunt
父fùmale relative

姨 is maternal aunt, and 父 indicates a male relative, giving the husband of a maternal 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
夷
夷yí姨yí
Same sound today

姨 combines 女 (woman) with 夷, which gives the sound. The 女 part marks it as a woman-related word.

Open 姨 →

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

The shape 父 shows a hand holding a stone blade, referring to a man working with a stone axe.

Open 父 →
Appears in
Family & Kinship

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