姘妇 (pīn fù) — mistress (in an extramarital relationship, with strong negative connotation); adulteress

Definition

A derogatory literary noun for a woman in an extramarital relationship — the female counterpart to 姘夫, harsher than 小三. Strongly negative, mainly used in formal or literary contexts.

noun
mistress (in an extramarital relationship, with strong negative connotation)adulteress

Examples

  • ，姘妇。
    Zhè jiàn shì bào guāng hòu, dà jiā cái zhī dào tā yǒu yí gè pīn fù.
    After this matter was exposed, everyone found out he had a mistress.
  • ，姘妇。
    Zài gǔ dài, pīn fù de dì wèi fēi cháng dī xià.
    In ancient times, an adulteress had a very low status.
  • 姘妇。
    Xiǎo shuō lǐ de pīn fù zuì zhōng bèi jiā zú gǎn chū le mén.
    In the novel, the mistress was eventually driven out by the family.

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.

姘pīnillicitly cohabit
妇fùwoman

姘 points to an illicit relationship, and 妇 to a woman; together they name a mistress.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 婦; 妇 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
女女nǚwoman
Sound part声符shēngfú
帚
帚zhǒu婦fù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 婦 pairs 女 (woman) with 帚 (broom), and the Shuowen reads it as a woman holding a broom. The simplified 妇 is a shorthand.

Open 妇 →

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