媳 meaning and stroke order
Daughter-in-law
How to write 媳, stroke by stroke
13 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 媳
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- daughter-in-law
How 媳 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Woman.
女 gives the meaning and 息 hints at the sound.
Radical: 女 (woman), shared by 156 characters on this site.
How to remember 媳
媳 combines 女 (woman) with 息 (xī), which gives the sound. Picture the woman who joins the family, and 息 tells you it is said xí.
媳 rarely appears alone and is almost always part of 媳妇 (xífu) or 儿媳 (érxí). In northern colloquial speech, 媳妇 often simply means "wife", as in 我媳妇做饭很好吃 (wǒ xífu zuòfàn hěn hǎochī), "My wife cooks really well."
Common mistake: Learners often read 媳 with the first tone because its phonetic part 息 is xī, but 媳 is second tone, xí. Also, 媳妇 is usually said xífu, with a neutral tone on 妇, not xífù.
Common words with 媳
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 媳妇 | xífu | daughter-in-law; wife of a younger brother or relative of the younger generation | HSK 7-9 |
| 儿媳妇 | érxífù | daughter-in-law | |
| 儿媳 | érxí | daughter-in-law |
媳 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 媳
How many strokes are in 媳?
媳 is written with 13 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 媳 mean?
媳 (xí) means daughter-in-law. A common word with it is 媳妇 (xífu), meaning "daughter-in-law; wife of a younger brother or relative of the younger generation".
How do you pronounce 媳?
媳 is pronounced xí, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 媳?
The radical of 媳 is 女, which carries the idea of "woman". Dictionaries list 媳 under this radical.
Is 媳 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 媳 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Does 媳妇 mean wife or daughter-in-law?
It can mean both. In formal or southern usage it usually means daughter-in-law. In everyday northern speech, a man may call his own wife 媳妇. To be clearly "daughter-in-law", say 儿媳 or 儿媳妇.
How do you say son-in-law, the counterpart of 儿媳?
Son-in-law is 女婿 (nǚxu). Notice that 婿 also has the 女 radical, even though it refers to a man.