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贞操 (zhēn cāo) — chastity, virginity (of women); moral integrity, loyalty

Definition

A traditional term for chastity or moral integrity. Its core sense is women's sexual virtue (especially premarital chastity); extended to mean personal or political integrity.

noun
chastityvirginity (of women)moral integrityloyalty

Examples

  • ，贞操。
    Zài gǔ dài, nǚ xìng de zhēn cāo bèi shì wéi zuì zhòng yào de pǐn dé zhī yī.
    In ancient times, a woman's chastity was considered one of the most important virtues.
  • 贞操。
    Zhèng zhì rén wù de zhēn cāo shòu dào le gōng zhòng de guān zhù.
    The moral integrity of politicians has drawn public attention.
  • 贞操，。
    Tā wèi le wéi hù zì jǐ de zhēn cāo, bù kěn zuò chū rèn hé tuǒ xié.
    To preserve her chastity, she refused to make any compromises.

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.

贞zhēnchaste
操cāoconduct

贞 expresses faithfulness or chastity, and 操 refers to conduct, together giving moral integrity.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 貞; 贞 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 貞 grew from a picture of a ding tripod, later changed for divination, and its lower part became unrelated to that picture; the simplified 贞 is a shorthand.

Open 贞 →

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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
喿
喿zào操cāo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 手 shows a hand, indicating an action done by hand. The right part 喿 gives the sound.

Open 操 →
Appears in
Romance & Marriage

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