马夫 (mǎ fū) — groom (person who tends horses)

Definition

noun

groom (person who tends horses)

Measure word · 个

马夫。
Zhè wèi mǎ fū hěn yǒu jīng yàn.
This groom is very experienced.
马夫。
Tā yǐ qián zài yí gè mǎ chǎng zuò mǎ fū.
He used to work as a groom at a horse farm.
马夫。
Lǎo mǎ fū xǐ huan nà pǐ bái mǎ.
The old groom likes that white horse.

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.

马 (horse) + 夫 (man) denotes a man who tends horses.

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 馬; 马 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 馬 shows a horse with its head facing left, a flowing mane, and two legs standing vertically.

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

夫 originally drew a man. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write a pronoun, so the picture and the pronoun meaning are unrelated.

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