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表哥 (biǎo gē) — older male cousin (from mother's side or father's sister's side)

Definition

Older male cousin on the mother's side or father's sister's side. Other 堂/表 terms (like 表弟 or 堂哥) tell you the relative's age and which side of the family they belong to.

noun
older male cousin (from mother's side or father's sister's side)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 表哥，。
    Wǒ biǎo gē jīn nián dà xué bì yè, zhèng zài zhǎo gōng zuò.
    My older cousin (on my mother's side) graduated from university this year and is looking for a job.
  • 表哥？
    Nǐ biǎo gē shì bu shì nǐ jiù jiu de ér zi?
    Is your older male cousin the son of your maternal uncle?
  • 表哥。
    Shàng zhōu mò wǒ gēn biǎo gē yì qǐ qù kàn le yì chǎng diàn yǐng.
    Last weekend I went to a movie with my older cousin.

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.

表biǎocousin relation
哥gēolder brother

表 marks a cousin relation and 哥 marks an older male sibling; together they name an older male cousin.

Characters in this word

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

The shape 表 pairs 衣 (garment) with 毛 (hair or feather), originally an outer garment.

Open 表 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 哥 →
Appears in
Family & Kinship

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