婚约 (hūn yuē) — engagement (promise to marry); marriage contract | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

engagement (promise to marry)marriage contract

Measure word · 份

Examples

婚约。
Tā men liǎ de hūn yuē yǐ jīng jiě chú le.
Their engagement has already been called off.
婚约。
Shuāng fāng fù mǔ wèi tā men qiān dìng le hūn yuē.
Both sets of parents signed a marriage contract for them.
。
Yì zhǐ hūn yuē bìng bù néng bǎo zhèng hūn yīn de xìng fú.
A marriage contract cannot guarantee marital happiness.

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.

婚hūnmarriage

约yuēcontract

婚 means marriage and 约 means contract, so this is a promise or contract of 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.

女昏婚

Meaning part形符xíngfú

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.

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 約; 约 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

糸糸mìrope

Sound part声符shēngfú

勺

勺sháo約yuē

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 約 uses 糸, a rope, for its meaning and 勺 for its sound; the simplified 约 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

Romance & Marriage

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