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俯首 (fǔ shǒu) — (literary/formal) to bow one's head (in submission, respect, or deep thought)

Definition

Literary/verb-object phrase meaning 'to bow one's head,' used in formal writing or set phrases (e.g. 俯首帖耳, 俯首称臣). Stronger and more figurative than 低头, and less physically marked than 鞠躬.

verb
(literary/formal) to bow one's head (in submission, respect, or deep thought)

Examples

  • 俯首。
    Tā fǔ shǒu chén sī le xǔ jiǔ.
    He bowed his head in deep thought for a long time.
  • ，俯首。
    Miàn duì shī zhǎng, tā fǔ shǒu xíng lǐ.
    Facing his teacher, he bowed his head and saluted.
  • 俯首，。
    Tā fǔ shǒu bù yǔ, sì hū zài děng dài mìng lìng.
    He bowed his head and remained silent, as if waiting for orders.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

俯fǔbow
首shǒuhead

'俯' (bow) and '首' (head) combine to mean bowing the head.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
勹勹bāoperson bending over
Sound part声符shēngfú
府
府fǔ俯fǔ
Same sound today

俯 uses 府 to show the sound fǔ and 勹 to show a person bending over; the modern left side comes from 勹.

Open 俯 →

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

The shape comes from an old drawing of an animal's head, showing a long mouth and horns; the version with hair became 首.

Open 首 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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