妾 meaning and stroke order
Concubine
How to write 妾, stroke by stroke
8 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 妾
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- concubine
- I, your servant (deprecatory self-reference for women)
How 妾 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A woman 女 branded 辛 as a slave.
Radical: 女 (woman), shared by 156 characters on this site.
How to remember 妾
A woman 女 (nǚ) sits under 辛 (xīn), a sign of punishment and branding. The picture shows a woman marked as a servant, which led to the meaning concubine.
Today 妾 (qiè) is mostly seen in historical dramas, novels, and the word 妻妾 (qīqiè, wives and concubines). In old texts a woman could call herself 妾 to sound humble, like saying "your servant." Example: 他有一妻一妾。(Tā yǒu yī qī yī qiè.) He had one wife and one concubine.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 妾 (qiè) with 妻 (qī, wife), since both have 女 at the bottom and appear together in 妻妾. Also note that the top of 妾 is written in the compressed form 立, not the full 辛.
Characters that contain 妾
Learning 妾 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 妾
How many strokes are in 妾?
妾 is written with 8 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 妾 mean?
妾 (qiè) means concubine.
How do you pronounce 妾?
妾 is pronounced qiè, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 妾?
The radical of 妾 is 女, which carries the idea of "woman". Dictionaries list 妾 under this radical.
Is 妾 still used in modern Chinese?
Not in everyday speech, since concubinage is no longer legal in China. You will meet it in history, literature, and costume dramas, where palace women often say 臣妾 (chénqiè) to refer to themselves before the emperor.
What is the difference between 妾 and 小三?
妾 was a recognized secondary wife in traditional society. 小三 (xiǎosān) is modern slang for a mistress or the other woman in an affair, and it carries a strong negative tone.