外甥 (wài sheng) — nephew (one's sister's son) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

外甥 (wàisheng) is your nephew on your sister's side. Contrast with 侄子, which is your brother's son.

noun

nephew (one's sister's son)

Measure word · 个

Examples

外甥，。
Tā shì wǒ jiě jie de wài sheng, jīn nián shí suì le.
He is my older sister's son, and he is ten years old this year.
外甥。
Wǒ wài sheng tè bié xǐ huan tī zú qiú.
My nephew especially likes to play soccer.
外甥。
Wǒ mèi mei de wài sheng hé wǒ de hái zi yì qǐ shàng yòu ér yuán.
My younger sister's son goes to kindergarten together with my child.

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.

外wàioutside/maternal

甥shēngnephew

The nephew is the 甥 on the 外 side, the maternal branch.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

月

月yuè外wài

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

外 pairs 卜 with 月, a crescent moon; in its older form, the 卜 part had a horizontal bar extending outward, giving the sense of outside.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 Family & Kinship

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