奴婢 (nú bì) — (noun) male and female servants/slaves in ancient China

Definition

奴婢 (nú bì) is the historical court term for low-ranking male and female servants/slaves, used in ancient China (palace, wealthy households) rather than modern usage.

noun
male and female servants/slaves in ancient China
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • ，奴婢。
    Zài zhè bù diàn shì jù lǐ, nú bì bì xū tīng cóng zhǔ rén de mìng lìng.
    In this TV drama, servants must obey their masters' orders.
  • 奴婢。
    Huáng gōng lǐ de nú bì yào xiǎo xīn shì fèng huáng dì.
    The servants in the imperial palace must serve the emperor carefully.
  • 奴婢。
    Gǔ dài yì xiē fù rén jiā lǐ yǎng le xǔ duō nú bì.
    In ancient times, some wealthy families kept many servants.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

奴númale slave
婢bìfemale servant

奴 and 婢 both denote servants or slaves, so 奴婢 covers male and female servants together.

Characters in this word

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

奴 shows 又 (a hand) and 女 (a woman): a hand capturing and ordering a woman around.

Open 奴 →

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
女女nǚ
Sound part声符shēngfú
卑
卑bēi婢bì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

婢 pairs 女 (woman) with 卑, which gives the sound and also means low or inferior.

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