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夫妻 (fū qī) — husband and wife; married couple

Definition

A neutral, neutral noun for a married couple as a unit. Use 妻子 for the wife alone and 丈夫 for the husband alone; 夫妇 is the more formal/written equivalent.

noun
husband and wifemarried couple
Measure word · 对

Examples

  • 夫妻。
    Zhè duì fū qī jié hūn shí nián le.
    This couple has been married for ten years.
  • 夫妻。
    fū qī Zhī jiān yào hù xiāng lǐ jiě.
    Husband and wife should understand each other.
  • 夫妻。
    Nà duì fū qī měi tiān yì qǐ sàn bù.
    That couple takes a walk together every day.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

夫fūhusband
妻qīwife

夫 means husband and 妻 means wife, so together they name a married couple.

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 →

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

  • 肀肀yùhand grabbing hair
  • 女女nǚwoman

妻 combines 肀, a hand grabbing hair, with 女, a woman, showing a man grabbing a woman's hair to show ownership.

Open 妻 →
Appears in
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