婢

bì

卑 + 女

Definitions

bì slave girl; maid servant

Etymology

A humble 卑 woman 女; 卑 also provides the pronunciation

About

婢 is a phono-semantic compound composed of the female radical 女 on the left, indicating the semantic category of women, and the component 卑 on the right, which serves as a phonetic marker while also meaning 'humble' or 'low'. This meaning reflects the historical social status: the word originally referred strictly to a female slave or captive of war, later broadening to a maidservant or domestic helper in traditional feudal households. The combination of a woman and low standing succinctly encodes the character's sociolinguistic origins and historical connotations.

Etymology Hide

Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

这个婢女很勤劳。

Zhè gè bì nǚ hěn qín láo.

This maidservant is very diligent.

婢女每天打扫房间。

Bì nǚ měi tiān dǎ sǎo fáng jiān.

The maidservant cleans the room every day.

老太太有一个忠心的婢女。

Lǎo tài tài yǒu yī gè zhōng xīn de bì nǚ.

The old lady has a loyal maidservant.

婢女精心照料着花园。

Bì nǚ jīng xīn zhào liào zhe huā yuán.

The maidservant carefully tends the garden.

她从前是富贵人家的婢女。

Tā cóng qián shì fù guì rén jiā de bì nǚ.

She used to be a maidservant in a wealthy family.

虽然身份是婢女，但她从不自卑。

Suī rán shēn fèn shì bì nǚ, dàn tā cóng bù zì bēi.

Although her status is that of a maidservant, she never feels inferior.

那位婢女因机智勇敢而深受主人赏识。

Nà wèi bì nǚ yīn jī zhì yǒng gǎn ér shēn shòu zhǔ rén shǎng shí.

That maidservant is deeply appreciated by her master for her wit and bravery.

在封建社会中，婢女的命运往往由主人随意支配。

Zài fēng jiàn shè huì zhōng, bì nǚ de mìng yùn wǎng wǎng yóu zhǔ rén suí yì zhī pèi.

In feudal society, the fate of maidservants was often arbitrarily controlled by their masters.

Related Characters

Component: 卑

Component: 女

婢