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未婚 (wèi hūn) — unmarried (attributive, used before nouns); single

Definition

A formal/attributive adjective meaning 'unmarried', almost always placed before a noun (e.g. 未婚夫, 未婚妻). It reads as written or on official forms rather than casual speech.

adjective
unmarried (attributive, used before nouns)single

Examples

  • 。
    Tā shì wǒ de wèi hūn fū.
    He is my fiancé.
  • 未婚。
    Tā mù qián hái shì wèi hūn zhuàng tài.
    She is currently still unmarried.
  • 未婚，。
    Zài wèi hūn qī jiān, tā zhuān zhù yú zì jǐ de shì yè.
    During her unmarried period, she focused on her career.

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.

未wèinot yet
婚hūnmarriage

未 means not yet and 婚 means marriage, so it describes someone not yet married.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape 未 shows a tree with extra branches spreading above its trunk, like lush, overlapping limbs.

Open 未 →

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 →
Appears in
Romance & Marriage

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