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女伴 (nǚ bàn) — female companion (female friend or partner); girlfriend (contextual, similar to 女朋友 but slightly more formal)

Definition

A female companion, typically a friend or partner who accompanies you. More formal than 女朋友 ('girlfriend') and carries no romantic implication by itself.

noun
female companion (female friend or partner)girlfriend (contextual, similar to 女朋友 but slightly more formal)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 女伴。
    Tā shì wǒ zài dà xué rèn shi de nǚ bàn.
    She is a female companion I met in college.
  • 女伴。
    Zhè cì lǚ xíng wǒ dài le yí wèi nǚ bàn.
    I brought a female companion on this trip.
  • 女伴。
    Tā de nǚ bàn péi tā qù le yī yuàn.
    Her female companion accompanied her to the hospital.

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
伴bàncompanion

女 means female and 伴 means companion, together giving the sense of a female companion.

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
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
半
半bàn伴bàn
Same sound today

伴 puts 亻 (person) beside 半. The person part fits the meaning of companion, and 半 gives the sound.

Open 伴 →
Appears in
Friends & SocialRomance & Marriage

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