女郎 (nǚ láng) — young woman (literary or formal term)

Definition

Literary/formal term for a 'young woman' — used in writing, poetry, and magazines rather than everyday speech. Feels more elegant than the plain 女孩 or 姑娘.

noun

young woman (literary or formal term)

Measure word · 个

Examples

女郎。
Nà wèi nǚ láng chuān zhuó yì tiáo bái sè lián yī qún.
That young woman is wearing a white dress.
女郎。
Zá zhì fēng miàn shàng shì yí wèi měi lì de nǚ láng.
The magazine cover features a beautiful young woman.
女郎。
Shī gē lǐ miáo xiě le yí wèi shén mì de nǚ láng.
The poem describes a mysterious young woman.

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

郎lángyoung person

The 'female' part specifies the 'young person' part, giving a formal word for a maiden.

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

邑邑yìcounty; town

Sound part声符shēngfú

良

良liáng郎láng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

郎 combines 良, which gives the sound, with 邑, meaning county or town.

Open 郎 →

Appears in

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