家庭妇女 (jiā tíng fù nǚ) — housewife, homemaker

Definition

Literally 'family + woman', meaning a married woman whose main work is running the home. A neutral, matter-of-fact term for 'housewife / homemaker'.

noun
housewifehomemaker
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 家庭妇女。
    Tā jié hūn hòu jiù chéng le jiā tíng fù nǚ.
    After getting married, she became a housewife.
  • 家庭妇女。
    Hěn duō jiā tíng fù nǚ yě xǐ huan shàng wǎng gòu wù.
    Many housewives also enjoy shopping online.
  • 家庭妇女，。
    jiā tíng fù nǚ De gōng zuò suī rán xīn kǔ, dàn hěn zhòng yào.
    The work of a homemaker, though hard, is very important.

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.

家庭family
家jiāfamily庭tínghousehold
联合Side by side
妇女women
妇fùwoman女nǚwoman
联合Side by side

家庭 gives 'family' and 妇女 gives 'women', so it names a woman of the family.

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →

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
广广guǎng
Sound part声符shēngfú
廷
廷tíng庭tíng
Same sound today

庭 combines 广 with 廷. The 廷 part gives the sound, and 广 is the meaning part.

Open 庭 →

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 婦; 妇 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
女女nǚwoman
Sound part声符shēngfú
帚
帚zhǒu婦fù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 婦 pairs 女 (woman) with 帚 (broom), and the Shuowen reads it as a woman holding a broom. The simplified 妇 is a shorthand.

Open 妇 →

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

女 shows a woman with folded arms, kneeling or standing. In the modern form the figure faces right, and the small enclosed part is what is left of one arm.

Open 女 →

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