贞淑 (zhēn shū) — virtuous and kind-hearted (literary, describing a woman's character)

Definition

Literary two-character adjective used almost exclusively to praise a woman's chastity and gentle virtue — far more formal than everyday words like 善良, and restricted to classical or formal writing.

verb
virtuous and kind-hearted (literary, describing a woman's character)

Examples

  • 贞淑。
    Tā shì yí wèi zhēn shū xián huì de nǚ zǐ.
    She is a virtuous and kind-hearted woman.
  • 贞淑。
    Gǔ dài de xiǎo shuō zhōng jīng cháng miáo xiě zhēn shū de nǚ zǐ.
    Ancient novels often describe virtuous and kind-hearted women.
  • 贞淑，。
    Tā de xìng qíng zhēn shū wēn shùn, shēn shòu dà jiā xǐ ài.
    Her temperament is virtuous and gentle, deeply loved by everyone.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

贞zhēnchaste
淑shūgentle

贞 and 淑 both describe moral qualities, chaste and gentle, together meaning virtuous and kind-hearted.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
叔
叔shū淑shū
Same sound today

The left part 氵 is a form of 水 (water), and the right part 叔 gives the character its sound.

Open 淑 →

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