The word 儿媳妇 is formed through the sequential combination of three characters: 儿, meaning "son", establishes the familial relation; 媳, meaning "daughter-in-law" or specifically "son's wife", denotes the marital role; and 妇, meaning "woman" or "wife", specifies gender. These characters are compounded directly to produce the term's literal meaning of "son's wife", which equates to "daughter-in-law".