夫

fū, fú

二 + 人

Definitions

fū (noun) husband; man

Etymology

Pictograph of a man. The top horizontal stroke either distinguishes it from the character 大 or depicts a hairpin, something that was only worn by adults.

About

夫 originally depicted a grown man (大) with an extra horizontal stroke 一, either representing a hairpin, worn by adults to tie up their hair upon coming of age, or simply to distinguish it from 大. It signified an adult man, husband, or manual laborer, and in classical Chinese it also functioned as a grammatical particle, appearing at the start of a sentence to introduce a topic or at the end to express emotion; today, however, it is primarily used for 'husband'.

Etymology Hide

Oracle etymology image

Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)

Bronze etymology image

Bronze Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)

Bronze etymology image

Bronze Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)

Bronze etymology image

Bronze Late Spring and Autumn (~500 BC)

Bronze etymology image

Bronze Late Warring States (~250 BC)

Seal etymology image

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal etymology image

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal etymology image

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal etymology image

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical etymology image

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical etymology image

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical etymology image

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical etymology image

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

我丈夫是一名医生。

Wǒ zhàngfu shì yī míng yīshēng.

My husband is a doctor.

那位夫人非常和蔼可亲。

Nà wèi fūrén fēcháng hé'ǎi kěqīn.

That lady is very kind and amiable.

他的中国功夫很厉害。

Tā de zhōngguó gōngfu hěn lìhai.

His Chinese kung fu is very impressive.

这位老农夫在田里工作。

Zhè wèi lǎo nóngfū zài tián lǐ gōngzuò.

This old farmer is working in the field.

他们是一对模范夫妻。

Tāmen shì yī duì mófàn fūqī.

They are a model couple.

老夫老妻的感情很深。

Lǎo fū lǎo qī de gǎnqíng hěn shēn.

The old husband and wife have a deep bond.

做事不能只凭匹夫之勇。

Zuò shì bùnéng zhǐ píng pǐfū zhī yǒng.

One cannot act relying solely on reckless courage.

有如此成就，夫复何求？

Yǒu rúcǐ chéngjiù, fū fù hé qiú?

With such achievement, what more could one ask for?

Related Characters

Composed characters:

Component: 二

Component: 人

Example Words