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女士 (nǚ shì) — lady; madam; Ms.

Definition

女士 is a polite, formal way to address or refer to a woman, roughly 'Ms.' or 'Madam.' Compare 太太 (a married woman, 'Mrs.') and 小姐 (a young woman, 'Miss' — also a dated/offensive slang).

noun
ladymadamMs.
Measure word · 个, 位

Examples

  • 女士。
    Zhè wèi nǚ shì shì wǒ de péng you.
    This lady is my friend.
  • 女士。
    Nà wèi nǚ shì hěn piào liang.
    That lady is very pretty.
  • 女士，？
    nǚ shì, Nǐ jiào shén me míng zì?
    Madam, what is your name?

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
士shìperson of standing

女 gives female and 士 gives a person of standing, yielding lady or Ms.

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 →

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

The shape 士 comes from a simple drawing of a war axe. The character later came to mean a soldier, officer, or intellectual.

Open 士 →
Appears in
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