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夫人 (fū rén) — lady (polite term for a married woman); madam (term of address); Mrs. (used after a surname or title)

Definition

A formal, polite 'Mrs. / Madam' used as a respectful address or for a high-status married woman (e.g., the president's wife). 太太 is the everyday equivalent; 女士 refers to any woman, married or not, using 'Ms.'

noun
lady (polite term for a married woman)madam (term of address)Mrs. (used after a surname or title)
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 夫人。
    Zhè wèi fū rén shì wǒ men de xīn lín jū.
    This lady is our new neighbor.
  • 夫人。
    Zǒng tǒng fū rén chū xí le jīn tiān de huó dòng.
    The first lady attended today's event.
  • 夫人，。
    fū rén, Nín de bāo wàng zài zhè lǐ le.
    Madam, you left your bag here.

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.

夫fūhusband
人rénperson

夫人 names a lady or wife, the 人 associated with a 夫.

Characters in this word

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 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →
Appears in
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