室女 (Shì nǚ) — unmarried girl; Virgo (constellation/astrological sign)

Definition

In modern usage 室女 almost always means 'Virgo' (the zodiac sign 室女座). The standalone sense 'unmarried girl' is a historical/literary term and rarely used alone — say 未婚女子 for 'unmarried woman' in everyday speech.

noun
unmarried girlVirgo (constellation/astrological sign)
Easily confused

Examples

  • ，室女。
    Zài gǔ dài, Shì nǚ shì zhǐ méi yǒu jié hūn de nǚ zǐ.
    In ancient times, 'shinü' referred to unmarried women.
  • 室女？
    Nǐ shì Shì nǚ zuò ma?
    Are you a Virgo?
  • 室女。
    Shì nǚ Zuò shì huáng dào shí èr gōng zhī yī.
    Virgo is one of the twelve zodiac constellations.

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.

室shìchamber
女nǚwoman

A woman associated with the chamber came to mean an unmarried girl.

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
至
至zhì室shì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

室 puts 宀 (roof) over 至, the spot where someone stops, giving the meaning of a house or residence.

Open 室 →

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 →

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