大丈夫 (dà zhàng fu) — a man of integrity and courage; a real man

Definition

大丈夫 (dàzhàngfu) is a literary, idealized term — 'a true man of integrity and courage' — used to praise someone for being principled, resilient, and willing to shoulder responsibility. It is an honorific ideal, not an everyday word for 'man' (男人).

noun
a man of integrity and couragea real man

Examples

  • 大丈夫，。
    Zhēn zhèng de dà zhàng fu néng qū néng shēn, bú pà shī bài.
    A real man can adapt to circumstances and is not afraid of failure.
  • ，大丈夫。
    Tā gǎn yú chéng dān zé rèn, zhēn shì gè dà zhàng fu.
    He dares to take responsibility; he's truly a man of integrity.
  • 大丈夫，。
    dà zhàng fu Zhì zài sì fāng, bú liàn ér nǚ sī qíng.
    A man of ambition sets his mind on the wider world, not on romantic attachments.

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.

大dàgreat
丈夫man
丈zhàngman夫fūman
联合Side by side

大 'great' combines with 丈夫 to mean a man of courage.

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

丈 is made from 十 (ten) and 又 (hand), and it is explained as a length of ten chi.

Open 丈 →

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

夫 originally drew a man. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write a pronoun, so the picture and the pronoun meaning are unrelated.

Open 夫 →

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