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万福 (wàn fú) — (interjection, archaic) a polite female greeting expressing good luck, often paired with a curtsy

Definition

万福 (wànfú) is an archaic feminine greeting from classical Chinese and period drama — said by women while curtsying, roughly 'greetings' or 'my respects', not a modern hello. It signals an old-fashioned, polite female speaker; men would not use it.

interjection
(interjection, archaic) a polite female greeting expressing good luck, often paired with a curtsy

Examples

  • 万福！？
    wàn fú! Lǎo fū rén shēn tǐ kě hǎo?
    Greetings! Is the old lady in good health?
  • 万福，。
    wàn fú, Xiǎo nǚ zǐ zhè xiāng yǒu lǐ le.
    Greetings, this humble woman offers her respects.
  • 万福！。
    wàn fú! Yuàn nín fú shòu ān kāng.
    Greetings! May you enjoy blessings and good health.

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.

万wànten thousand
福fúblessing

万 gives ten thousand and 福 gives blessing, so the greeting expresses many blessings.

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 萬; 万 is its simplified writing.

For 万, the form 萬 was originally a picture of a scorpion, later borrowed for its sound to write 'ten thousand'; the scorpion picture is unrelated to that number.

Open 万 →

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
示示shì
Sound part声符shēngfú
畐
畐fú福fú
Same sound today

福 combines 示 and 畐, with 示 carrying the meaning and 畐 the sound.

Open 福 →
Appears in
Chinese Culture & CustomsGreetings & Politeness

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