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女仆 (nǚ pū) — maid (female servant)

Definition

noun
maid (female servant)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 女仆。
    Tā men jiā gù le yí gè nǚ pū.
    Their family hired a maid.
  • 女仆。
    nǚ pū Měi tiān dǎ sǎo fáng jiān.
    The maid cleans the rooms every day.
  • 女仆。
    Zhè wèi nǚ pū gōng zuò hěn rèn zhēn.
    This maid works very carefully.

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.

女nǚfemale
仆púservant

女 means female and 仆 means servant, together naming a female servant.

Characters in this word

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

女 shows a woman with folded arms, kneeling or standing. In the modern form the figure faces right, and the small enclosed part is what is left of one arm.

Open 女 →

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
人人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
卜
卜bǔ仆pú
Same sound today

The left side 人 marks the character as related to a person, and the right side 卜 gives its sound.

Open 仆 →
Appears in
Professions & Jobs

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