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童贞 (tóng zhēn) — virginity; chastity (the state of not having had sexual intercourse)

Definition

A formal/cultural term for 'virginity,' emphasizing the social-moral dimension (purity, chastity) rather than just the physical fact. Strongly associated with traditional Chinese values around female virtue, especially in older or literary contexts.

noun
virginitychastity (the state of not having had sexual intercourse)

Examples

  • 童贞，。
    Tā fēi cháng zhòng shì zì jǐ de tóng zhēn, jué dìng jié hūn qián bù tán liàn ài.
    She values her virginity very much and decided not to date before marriage.
  • ，童贞。
    Zài chuán tǒng wén huà zhōng, nǚ xìng de tóng zhēn bèi shì wéi yì zhǒng měi dé.
    In traditional culture, female chastity is regarded as a virtue.
  • 童贞。
    Shī qù tóng zhēn duì měi gè rén lái shuō yì yì dōu bù tóng.
    Losing one's virginity has different meanings for everyone.

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.

童tóngyoung/virgin
贞zhēnchaste

“童” gives untouched youth and “贞” gives chastity, together meaning virginity.

Characters in this word

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

  • 䇂䇂䇂chisel
  • 見見jiànkneeling person with a huge eye

The form 童 comes from a pairing of 䇂 (a chisel) with 見 (a kneeling person with a huge eye), depicting a person having an eye gouged out.

Open 童 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 貞; 贞 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 貞 grew from a picture of a ding tripod, later changed for divination, and its lower part became unrelated to that picture; the simplified 贞 is a shorthand.

Open 贞 →
Appears in
Romance & Marriage

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