淑女 (shū nǚ) — a refined and virtuous woman (classical ideal)

Definition

A literary, classical-style word for a refined and virtuous woman — comes from the Shijing and sounds poetic, not colloquial. Use it in writing or when evoking a traditional ideal, not for everyday talk.

noun
a refined and virtuous woman (classical ideal)
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • ，，淑女。
    Tā jǔ zhǐ yōu yǎ, tán tǔ dé tǐ, kān chēng yí wèi zhēn zhèng de shū nǚ.
    Her manners are elegant and her speech is proper — she can be called a true refined lady.
  • 《》“淑女，逑”。
    《Shī jīng》 zhōng nà jù "yǎo tiǎo shū nǚ, jūn zǐ hǎo qiú" liú chuán zhì jīn.
    That line from the Classic of Poetry — 'A graceful refined lady is a good match for a gentleman' — has been passed down to this day.
  • ，淑女。
    Xiàn dài shè huì zhōng, shū nǚ de biāo zhǔn yǐ jīng fā shēng le biàn huà.
    In modern society, the standard for a refined lady has already changed.

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.

淑shūvirtuous
女nǚwoman

“淑” means virtuous and “女” means woman, together describing a refined woman.

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
叔
叔shū淑shū
Same sound today

The left part 氵 is a form of 水 (water), and the right part 叔 gives the character its sound.

Open 淑 →

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 →
Appears in
Personality & Traits

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