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迎娶 (yíng qǔ) — to take a wife; to marry (a woman) in a formal wedding ceremony

Definition

A formal/literary verb for the groom's side escorting the bride in a traditional wedding ceremony. Used in writing or historical contexts rather than everyday speech, where 结婚 is the normal word.

verb
to take a wifeto marry (a woman) in a formal wedding ceremony

Examples

  • 迎娶。
    Tā jiāng yú xià ge yuè yíng qǔ xīn niáng.
    He will marry the bride next month.
  • 迎娶，。
    Gǔ dài nán zǐ yíng qǔ qī zi shí, yào jǔ xíng lóng zhòng de yí shì.
    In ancient times, when a man took a wife, a grand ceremony was held.
  • 迎娶。
    Zhè bù xiǎo shuō miáo xiě le zhǔ rén gōng yíng qǔ xīn niáng de quán guò chéng.
    This novel describes the entire process of the protagonist marrying his bride.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

迎yíngwelcome
娶qǔtake a wife

迎 (welcome) and 娶 (take a wife) name two actions in a formal marriage.

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
辶Written in full as辵chuò
Sound part声符shēngfú
卬
卬áng迎yíng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

迎 is made of 辶 (written fully as 辵) for the meaning and 卬 for the sound.

Open 迎 →

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
女女nǚwoman
Sound part声符shēngfú
取
取qǔ娶qǔ
Same sound today

娶 combines 女 (woman) with 取 (to take); 取 gives the sound, and 女 shows that the word is about taking a woman as a wife.

Open 娶 →
Appears in
Romance & Marriage

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