抚养 (fǔ yǎng) — to raise (a child); to foster; to bring up | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

抚养 means 'to raise' a child in a legal/financial sense — it emphasizes the duty to feed, support, and bring up a minor. Unlike 养育 (more general parenting) and 喂养 (feeding babies/animals), it carries a formal, often legal, weight.

verb

to raise (a child)to fosterto bring up

Examples

抚养。
Fù mǔ yǒu zé rèn fǔ yǎng zì jǐ de hái zi.
Parents have the responsibility to raise their own children.
抚养，。
Tā yí gè rén fǔ yǎng liǎng gè xiǎo hái, hěn xīn kǔ.
She raises two children alone, which is very hard.
，抚养。
Zài zhèng fǔ de bāng zhù xià, tā chéng gōng fǔ yǎng dà le sān gè gū ér.
With the government's help, he successfully raised three orphans.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

抚fǔsupport

'抚' (support) and '养' (raise) together mean to support and raise a child.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 撫; 抚 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

手手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

無

無wú撫fǔ

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 撫 pairs 手 (hand) with 無 for the sound; the simplified 抚 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical parts.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 養; 养 is its simplified writing.

羊羊yángsheep
食食shíto feed

The traditional form 養 uses 羊 as a sound part and 食 as a meaning part.

Appears in

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