同房 (tóng fáng) — to share a room (e.g., in a hotel or dormitory)…

Definition

A literal meaning ('share a room') and a euphemistic one ('have sexual intercourse'); the second is the more common usage in modern Chinese.

verb

to share a room (e.g., in a hotel or dormitory)(euphemistic) to have sexual intercourse

Easily confused

，。
Wǒ men tóng guò fáng, dàn zhǐ shì pǔ tōng péng you.
We shared a room before, but we're just friends.
同房。
Lǚ xíng shí wǒ hé péng you tóng fáng.
During the trip, my friend and I shared a room.
同房。
Yī shēng wèn tā men shì fǒu tóng fáng le.
The doctor asked whether they had sexual intercourse.

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.

同 gives same, 房 gives room; together they mean same room, hence roommate or sharing a room.

Characters in this word

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

同 originally drew a pipe. It is the old form of 筒.

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

戶戶hùdoor

Sound part声符shēngfú

方

Same sound today

房 pairs 戶 (door) with 方 (fāng) as a sound part; 方 can also fit 'side,' as in a side room beside the main room.