干妈 (gān mā) — godmother (honorary mother through ritual or close friendship)

Definition

A "dry mother" — a non-blood adult woman who takes a parental role, chosen through a ritual kinship or a very close family friend, not a baptismal godmother in the Western sense.

noun
godmother (honorary mother through ritual or close friendship)
Measure word · 个
Easily confused

Examples

  • 干妈。
    Wǒ de gān mā měi nián dōu gěi wǒ mǎi shēng rì lǐ wù.
    My godmother buys me a birthday gift every year.
  • 干妈。
    Tā rèn le yí wèi lín jū zuò gān mā.
    He took a neighbor as his godmother.
  • 干妈。
    gān mā Duì wǒ xiàng qīn nǚ ér yí yàng hǎo.
    My godmother treats me as well as her own daughter.

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.

干gānhonorary
妈māmother

The name 干妈 combines 干 in the sense “honorary, adopted” with 妈 “mother” to mean a ritual or friendship mother.

Characters in this word

The simplified 干 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (饼干, 干杯) it is 乾; in others (干, 干活儿) (干扰) it is 幹 or 干.

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 乾; 干 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
乙乙yǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
倝
倝gàn乾gān
Same sound today
Open 干 →

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 媽; 妈 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
女女nǚ
Sound part声符shēngfú
馬
馬mǎ媽mā
Same sound today

The traditional form 媽 pairs 女 (woman) with 馬, which gives the sound. The simplified 妈 is a later shorthand.

Open 妈 →

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