About
The character 妯 is a phono-semantic compound. The left-side radical 女 indicates its semantic category of women and female kinship. The right component 由 provides its phonetic element. The character's meaning is highly specific, referring exclusively to the relationship between sisters-in-law who are married to brothers. It is used almost entirely within the compound noun 妯娌, a kinship term describing this particular bond within extended family structures. This precise term reflects the language's detailed vocabulary for mapping complex familial networks.
Etymology Hide
