婚姻 (hūn yīn) — marriage, matrimony

Definition

婚姻 is the institution or state of being married, not the wedding event itself (婚礼 is the ceremony, 喜事 is the happy occasion). Use it for the relationship as a lifelong commitment, e.g. 终身大事.

noun
marriagematrimony
Measure word · 桩, 次

Examples

  • 婚姻。
    Zhè shì yì zhuāng kuà guó hūn yīn.
    This is an international marriage.
  • 婚姻。
    Tā yǒu guò yí cì shī bài de hūn yīn.
    He has had one failed marriage.
  • 婚姻。
    hūn yīn Xū yào xiāng hù lǐ jiě hé bāo róng.
    Marriage requires mutual understanding and tolerance.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

婚hūnmarriage
姻yīnmarriage

婚 and 姻 both refer to marriage, so together they mean marriage.

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nǚ
Sound part声符shēngfú
昏
昏hūn婚hūn
Same sound today

婚 uses 女 (woman) for the meaning and 昏 for the sound hūn.

Open 婚 →

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
因
因yīn姻yīn
Same sound today

姻 combines 女, meaning woman, with 因, which gives the sound; the reference links the whole shape to a marriage involving a woman.

Open 姻 →
Appears in
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