皇后 (huáng hòu) — empress

Definition

皇后 is the emperor's wife — pair it with 皇帝 (the emperor himself). 皇 marks both as imperial; 后 here specifically means empress, not just any queen.

noun
empress
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • ，皇后。
    Lì shǐ shàng zhǐ yǒu yí wèi nǚ huáng dì, dàn shì yǒu hěn duō huáng hòu.
    In history there was only one female emperor, but there were many empresses.
  • 皇后。
    huáng hòu Shì yí wèi hěn yǒu zhì huì de rén.
    The empress was a very wise person.
  • 皇后。
    huáng hòu Chuān de yī fu hěn piào liang.
    The clothes the empress wore were beautiful.

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.

皇huángimperial
后hòuempress

皇后 is the 后 (empress) of the 皇 (emperor).

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
𤼽𤼽𤼽
Sound part声符shēngfú
王
王wáng皇huáng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The part 𤼽 originally drew a single peacock feather; 王 was later added to give the sound.

Open 皇 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 後; 后 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 後 showed 夊 (foot) bound by 幺 (thread), a foot caught by a rope and lagging behind; the simplified 后 is a later abbreviation, and 后 also has a different meaning.

Open 后 →
Appears in
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