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婚外恋 (hūn wài liàn) — extramarital affair

Definition

noun
extramarital affair

Examples

  • 婚外恋。
    Tā yīn wèi hūn wài liàn shī qù le jiā tíng.
    He lost his family because of an extramarital affair.
  • 婚外恋。
    Zhè bù diàn yǐng jiǎng le yí gè guān yú hūn wài liàn de gù shi.
    This movie tells a story about an extramarital affair.
  • 婚外恋。
    hūn wài liàn Duì hūn yīn de shāng hài hěn dà.
    An extramarital affair severely harms a marriage.

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.

婚外outside marriage
婚hūnmarriage外wàioutside
偏正Modifier + head
恋liànaffair

婚外, outside marriage, joins with 恋, love affair, to mean an extramarital affair.

Characters in this word

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
昏
昏hūn婚hūn
Same sound today

婚 uses 女 (woman) for the meaning and 昏 for the sound hūn.

Open 婚 →

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
卜卜bǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
月
月yuè外wài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

外 pairs 卜 with 月, a crescent moon; in its older form, the 卜 part had a horizontal bar extending outward, giving the sense of outside.

Open 外 →

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 戀; 恋 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
䜌
䜌䜌戀liàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 戀 pairs 心 (heart) with 䜌 as a sound part; 恋 is a later simplified form.

Open 恋 →
Appears in
Romance & Marriage

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