婚龄 (hūn líng) — legal age for marriage; legally marriageable age

Definition

noun
legal age for marriagelegally marriageable age

Examples

  • 婚龄，。
    Zhōng guó de fǎ dìng hūn líng shì nán èr shí èr suì, nǚ èr shí suì.
    China's legal marriageable age is 22 for men and 20 for women.
  • 婚龄，。
    Tā jīn nián gāng dào hūn líng, jiù jié hūn le.
    She just reached marriageable age this year and got married.
  • 婚龄。
    Hěn duō guó jiā dōu zài tǎo lùn tí gāo hūn líng de wèn tí.
    Many countries are discussing the issue of raising the marriageable age.

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
龄língage

婚 (marriage) + 龄 (age) gives the age connected with 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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 齡; 龄 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
齒齒chǐtooth
Sound part声符shēngfú
令
令lìng齡líng
Same sound today

The traditional form 齡 shows 齒, a tooth, associated with age, and 令 for the sound; simplified 龄 is a later shorthand.

Open 龄 →

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