证婚 (zhèng hūn) — to witness or officiate at a wedding (as an off… | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Used for the honored person who formally presides over and witnesses a wedding ceremony — typically a respected elder, leader, or official. 证婚人 (the witness/officiant) signs the marriage certificate.

verb

to witness or officiate at a wedding (as an official witness)

Easily confused

Examples

证婚。
Wǒ shū shu wèi zhè duì xīn rén zhèng hūn.
My uncle officiated the wedding for this couple.
。
Tā qù nián zhèng guò liǎng cì hūn.
He officiated two weddings last year.
证婚。
Zhè chǎng hūn lǐ yóu yí wèi lǎo jiào shòu zhèng hūn.
This wedding was officiated by an elderly professor.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

证zhèngwitness

婚hūnmarriage

证 as witness and 婚 as marriage combine to mean acting as the witness at a wedding.

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 證; 证 is its simplified writing.

言登證

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

登

登dēng證zhèng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 證 pairs 言, a words/speech part, with 登 as a sound clue; the simplified 证 is a later shorthand.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

女昏婚

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

昏

昏hūn婚hūn

Same sound today

婚 uses 女 (woman) for the meaning and 昏 for the sound hūn.

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