女

nǚ, rǔ

HSK 2.0Level 2

HSK 3.0Level 1

Definitions

nǔ (noun) female; woman

nǔ (noun) daughter

Etymology

Depicts a woman sitting or squatting down.

About

The character 女 is a pictograph of a woman sitting or squatting down, a posture typical for women in early Chinese society. It means 'woman', 'female', or 'daughter'. As both a character and a highly productive radical, it forms a fundamental building block of the script. When used as a component in other characters, it generally indicates a semantic connection to females, female societal roles, marriage, reproduction, or traits historically associated with women.

Etymology Hide

Oracle etymology image

Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)

Oracle etymology image

Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)

Bronze etymology image

Bronze Late Shang dynasty (~1100 BC)

Bronze etymology image

Bronze Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)

Bronze etymology image

Bronze Mid Western Zhou (~900 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 Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal etymology image

Seal Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical etymology image

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Seal etymology image

Seal 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)

Clerical etymology image

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

她是一个女孩。

Tā shì yī gè nǚ hái.

She is a girl.

那个女人在看书。

Nà ge nǚ rén zài kàn shū.

That woman is reading a book.

我的女儿今年五岁。

Wǒ de nǚ ér jīn nián wǔ suì.

My daughter is five years old this year.

女性应该享有平等权利。

Nǚ xìng yīng gāi xiǎng yǒu píng děng quán lì.

Women should enjoy equal rights.

他的女朋友来自北京。

Tā de nǚ péng you lái zì běi jīng.

His girlfriend comes from Beijing.

那位女士是我们的经理。

Nà wèi nǚ shì shì wǒ men de jīng lǐ.

That lady is our manager.

女教师在学校里教英语。

Nǚ jiào shī zài xué xiào lǐ jiāo yīng yǔ.

The female teacher teaches English at school.

在现代社会，女性在各个领域都取得了显著成就。

Zài xiàn dài shè huì, nǚ xìng zài gè gè lǐng yù dōu qǔ dé le xiǎn zhù chéng jiù.

In modern society, women have achieved remarkable success in various fields.

Related Characters

Composed characters:

Component: 女

Example Words