扶养 (fú yǎng) — to support and care for (a family member, especially an elder); to foster or raise (a child)

Definition

扶养 (fúyǎng) is a formal/legal verb meaning to support and care for a dependent — typically aging parents or children. Unlike everyday 养 or 照顾, it emphasizes a mutual legal duty within a family and is common in official, legal, or written contexts.

verb
to support and care for (a family member, especially an elder)to foster or raise (a child)

Examples

  • 扶养。
    Tā fú yǎng nián lǎo de fù mǔ.
    He supports his elderly parents.
  • 扶养。
    Tā fú yǎng le yí gè gū ér.
    She fostered an orphan.
  • 扶养。
    fú yǎng Hái zi xū yào hěn duō shí jiān hé jīng lì.
    Raising children requires a lot of time and energy.

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.

扶fúsupport
养yǎngcare

The senses of 扶 as support and 养 as care combine to mean supporting and caring for someone.

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
扌Written in full as手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
夫
夫fū扶fú
Same sound today

The left part 扌 is a hand, matching actions like helping or supporting. The right part 夫 gives the sound fū.

Open 扶 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 養; 养 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 養 uses 羊 as a sound part and 食 as a meaning part.

Open 养 →

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