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男女 (nán nǚ) — men and women; male-female (relations, interactions, etc.)

Definition

noun
men and womenmale-female (relations, interactions, etc.)

Examples

  • 男女。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī nán nǚ yuán gōng bǐ lì hěn jūn héng.
    This company has a very balanced ratio of male and female employees.
  • 。
    nán nǚ Píng děng shì shè huì jìn bù de zhòng yào biāo zhì.
    Gender equality is an important sign of social progress.
  • 男女。
    Tā men shēng le yí duì nán nǚ shuāng bāo tāi.
    They had a pair of boy-girl twins.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

男nánman
女nǚwoman

“男” means man and “女” means woman, together they refer to both sexes.

Characters in this word

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

男 is made from 田, a field, and 力, strength. It shows a man working with strength in a field.

Open 男 →

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
People (General)

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