Taxonomy of meanings for 婦:
- 婦 fù (OC: buʔ MC: biu) 房久切 上 廣韻：【説文曰婦服也从女持帚洒埽也房久切十五 】
- WOMAN
- ne.g. 在塗稱婦 "any female of marriagable age"; but also 宮婦,室婦
- nadNwoman-like, for women (NB: in "the ritual practice of a woman" "woman" would not be nadN.)
- n=Nprwoman Npr
- nadVin the womanly fashionLZ
- nadNn=subjectwoman's; made by a womanDS
- nadNn=objectfor a woman; intended for womenDS
- transitive>WIFE
- n=NprLady N 婦姜
- npost-Nwife; sometimes: wife to be, bride
- ntnonreferentiala wife in general
- viactbehave as a wife should
- vtoNattitudinaltreat as a wife
- nabconceptwifehood, role of a wife
- n(post-N)wife of the contextually determinate NDS
- of one's son>DAUGHTER-IN-LAW
- n"young wife in the house", regularly used to refer to the daughter in law
- npost-Vdaughter-in-law characterised by VDS
- n(post-N)N's daughter-in-lawDS
- generalised>IN-LAWS
- nson's wife; wife
- WOMAN
- fùYOU
- n[post-npro1.post=npro2]you[, my daughter-in-law] DS
Additional information about 婦
說文解字: 【婦】，服也。从女、持帚，灑掃也。 〔小徐本「掃」作「埽」。〕 【房九切】
- Criteria
- CUCKOLD
烏龜
奸婦之夫人
戴綠帽
- WIFE
1. The most general term for a commoner's female mate is fù 婦 (ant. fū 夫 "husband").
2. Qī 妻 (ant. fū 夫 "husband") refers to the regular main wife, and specifically to a commoner's main wife.
3. Nèi 內 refers generically to the harem.
4. Hòu 后 (ant. wáng 王 "king") refers to a queen. See QUEEN
5. Shì 室 is a polite circumlocution for a wife.
6. Aυ 媼 (ant. wēng 翁 "old man") is a general term for a married woman, and the word is marginal in this group because it does not focus on the relationship to the mate.
7. Fū rén 夫人 is a current phrase for a wife.
- VULGAR
1. The most general current word for ordinariness or vulgarity is sú 俗 (ant. yǎ 雅 "elegant"), and the basic parameter of judging something as sú 俗 is relative status in the hierarchy.
2. Jiàn 賤 (ant. shàn 善 "good" and also, along different lines guì 貴 "noble") refers 1. to noble status and 2. very negatively to a person or a piece of behaviour as not conforming to any demands set by nobility of purpose or status. Lòu 陋 (ant. huá 華 "elaborate and cultivated") refers to vulgarity as a negative feature of places (streets) or behaviour.
3. Bǐ 鄙 (ant. chóng 崇 "elevated") refers to rusticity and lack cultural polish typical of a person from outlying regions, a country bumpkin.
4. Yě 野 (ant. wén 文 "properly educacted, civilised") refers to true country style without necessarily strong negative connotations, but with clear overtones of condescension.
5. Zhòng 眾 (ant. zhuō 卓 "outstanding") refers to what is characteristically linked to the hoi polloi, the ordinary people at large.
6. Pǐ fū 匹夫 and bù yī 布衣 (ant. jūn zǐ 君子 "gentleman") refer specifically to males of the lower classes or males without public employment.
7. Pǐ fù 匹婦 refers specifically to the wife of a person without public employment.
- MALE
1. The current general term is nán 男 (opp. nǚ 女 "female) or, more administratively and technically nán zǐ 男子 (opp. nǚ zǐ 女子 "female").
2. Mǔ 牡 refers to the male of birds and beasts in purely biological terms.
3. Xióng 雄 denotes maleness, but often connotes virility, strength and domination as well.
4. Zhàng fū 丈夫 (opp. fù rén 婦人 "woman") is a current, probably colloquial, word for an adult male.
5. Fū 夫 is a dignified term for an adult male.
- WOMAN
1. The current general word for a woman is nu# 女 (ant. nán 男 "male"), and the word can also refer to unmarried women.
2. Fù 婦 (ant. fū 夫 "married man") refers to a woman who is either married or definitely of marriagable age.
3. Aυ 媼 and yù 嫗 (ant. wēng 翁 and sōu 叟 "old man") refer to old women.
4. Bì 婢 (ant. pú 僕 "male of low status") refers to a woman of low social status.
5. Nu# zǐ 女子 (ant. nán zǐ 男子 "male") can refer to a female child (as well as being an administrative way of referring to - preferably counted - females).