婦 meaning and stroke order
Married woman; wife
How to write 婦, stroke by stroke
11 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
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- 11
Meaning of 婦
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- woman
How 婦 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A woman 女 with a broom 帚.
Radical: 女 (woman), shared by 156 characters on this site.
How to remember 婦
婦 puts 女 (woman) next to 帚 (broom), an old picture of a woman with a broom who runs the household. Think of a married woman keeping her home, and you have the meaning wife or woman.
婦 is the traditional form; mainland China writes it 妇. It rarely stands alone and usually appears in words like 婦女 (fùnǚ, women), 夫婦 (fūfù, husband and wife) and 孕婦 (yùnfù, pregnant woman). Example: 這對夫婦很恩愛。(Zhè duì fūfù hěn ēn'ài.) This couple is very loving.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes mix up 婦 with 掃 (sǎo, to sweep), which shares the 帚 part but has the hand radical 扌 instead of 女. Also note that in 媳婦 (xífu) and 寡婦 (guǎfu) the second syllable is usually read in the neutral tone, not fù.
Common words with 婦
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 夫婦 | fūfù | a (married) couple; husband and wife | HSK 4 |
| 婦女 | fùnǚ | woman | HSK 6 |
| 寡婦 | guǎfu | widow | HSK 7-9 |
| 孕婦 | yùnfù | pregnant woman | HSK 7-9 |
| 媳婦 | xífu | daughter-in-law; wife of a younger brother or relative of the younger generation | HSK 7-9 |
| 主婦 | zhǔfù | housewife; woman of senior authority in a household | HSK 7-9 |
| 蕩婦 | dàngfù | prostitute; floozy; slut | |
| 情婦 | qíngfù | mistress; paramour (of married man) | |
| 家庭主婦 | jiātíngzhǔfù | housewife; stay-at-home wife | |
| 婦人 | fùrén | married woman | |
| 老婦人 | lǎofùrén | elderly woman | |
| 潑婦 | pōfù | shrew; vixen | |
| 婦產科 | fùchǎnkē | department of gynecology and obstetrics; birth clinic | |
| 新婚夫婦 | xīnhūnfūfù | newly married couple; newlyweds |
Questions about 婦
How many strokes are in 婦?
婦 is written with 11 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 婦 mean?
婦 (fù) means married woman; wife. A common word with it is 夫妇 (fūfù), meaning "a (married) couple; husband and wife".
How do you pronounce 婦?
婦 is pronounced fù, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 婦?
The radical of 婦 is 女, which carries the idea of "woman". Dictionaries list 婦 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 婦?
婦 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 妇, used in mainland China and Singapore.
What is the difference between 婦女 and 女人?
婦女 (fùnǚ) is a formal, collective term for women, used in news, law and phrases like 婦女節 (Women's Day). 女人 (nǚrén) is the everyday word for a woman or women.
Does 媳婦 mean wife or daughter-in-law?
Both, depending on region and context. In standard usage 媳婦 (xífu) often means daughter-in-law, but in northern China people commonly use it casually to mean one's own wife.