寡妇 (guǎ fu) — widow

Definition

寡妇 is specifically a woman whose husband has died — narrower than the general 妇女 ('woman'), and the female counterpart of widower, paired with 夫妇 (married couple).

noun
widow
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • ，寡妇。
    Tā zhàng fu qù shì hòu, tā chéng le yì míng guǎ fu.
    After her husband passed away, she became a widow.
  • 寡妇。
    Cūn lǐ de guǎ fu men hù xiāng bāng zhù.
    The widows in the village help each other.
  • 寡妇。
    Zhè wèi guǎ fu kào zhòng dì yǎng huó hái zi.
    This widow supports her children by farming.

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.

寡guǎwidowed
妇fùwoman

寡 (widowed) and 妇 (woman) together give the idea of a woman left alone after her husband's death.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 宀宀miánhouse
  • 頁頁yèhead

The form 寡 pairs 宀, a house, with 頁, a head: one head in a house, alone.

Open 寡 →

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 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Family & Kinship

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