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The character "驸", with its traditional form "駙", is structurally composed of the semantic component "马" (horse) and the phonetic component "付". Its original meaning was a secondary horse harnessed alongside the main horse in a chariot or carriage, a sense directly derived from its components. Over time, the term "驸马" was adopted as a specific official title, originally denoting a military position responsible for the emperor's secondary chariots. This title later became exclusively used to address the emperor's son-in-law, causing the character "驸" to lose its independent use and become semantically bound within this compound, with its core association shifting from an auxiliary animal to a person married into the imperial family.
Etymology Hide
