寡居 (guǎ jū) — to live in widowhood (formal, of a woman)

Definition

A formal, written verb meaning 'to live in widowhood,' used almost exclusively of a woman after her husband's death. Far more literary than the everyday phrasing 守寡.

verb
to live in widowhood (formal, of a woman)

Examples

  • ，寡居。
    Tā zhàng fu qù shì hòu, guǎ jū le sān shí nián.
    After her husband passed away, she lived in widowhood for thirty years.
  • 寡居，。
    Zhè wèi lǎo rén guǎ jū duō nián, yì zhí dú zì shēng huó.
    This elderly woman has lived in widowhood for many years, always living alone.
  • 寡居。
    Tā guǎ jū qī jiān kào jiāo shū wéi chí shēng jì.
    During her widowhood, she supported herself by teaching.

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
居jūlive

寡 gives the widowed state, and 居 gives living; the sense is living in widowhood.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
尸尸shī
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ居jū
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

居 is built from 尸 as the meaning part and 古 (gǔ) as the sound part.

Open 居 →

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