贞洁 (zhēn jié) — chaste, virtuous (especially of women); moral p…

Definition

贞洁 (zhēnjié) means 'chaste' — historical and literary, almost always about women preserving sexual/moral purity, often paired with 烈女. It is more formal and old-fashioned than modern words like 纯洁 ('pure').

verb

chastevirtuous (especially of women)moral purity

Examples

，贞洁。
Zài gǔ dài, nǚ zǐ bì xū bǎo chí zhēn jié.
In ancient times, women had to maintain chastity.
贞洁，。
Tā shì yí gè zhēn jié de nǚ zǐ, shēn shòu dà jiā zūn jìng.
She is a chaste woman, deeply respected by everyone.
贞洁。
Zhè bù xiǎo shuō miáo xiě le yí wèi zhēn jié liè nǚ de gù shi.
This novel tells the story of a chaste and virtuous woman.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

贞zhēnchaste/faithful

洁jiéclean/pure

“贞” and “洁” both contribute moral purity and chasteness.

Characters in this word

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 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 潔; 洁 is its simplified writing.

氵絜潔

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

絜

絜jié潔jié

Same sound today

The traditional form 潔 pairs 氵, a water part, with 絜, which gives the sound; the simplified 洁 is a later abbreviation.

Open 洁 →