女 (nǚ) means "female" with radical 女 (woman), HSK 1 on the new exam.
Pronunciation
Meaning
Primary: female
Etymology
Oracle-bone origin
The oracle bone form depicts a person kneeling with arms crossed in front of the chest or folded in the lap, the conventional posture of a woman in Shang ritual contexts. The figure is drawn in profile and is clearly differentiated from the standing 大 figure used for adults in general. Some inscriptions show the breasts marked, reinforcing the female reading.
Form evolution
Bronze inscriptions keep the kneeling profile but begin to streamline the curves of the body. Seal script (小篆) regularises the figure into smooth flowing lines, and clerical script then breaks these curves into the angular strokes of modern writing. The 楷书 form preserves the crossed arms as the upper stroke that crosses the body, though the original posture is no longer visually obvious.
How the meaning evolved
The original sense was simply woman or female, and from very early it also functioned as a verb meaning to give in marriage. As a radical it appears in a large number of characters relating to family, marriage, and personal qualities, including 妈 mother, 姐 elder sister, and 好 good. In modern Mandarin 女 is used for woman, female, and daughter (女儿).
Cultural note
The 女 radical accounts for one of the largest semantic groupings in the Kangxi system, and the moral and aesthetic loading of many of those characters has attracted modern criticism, for instance 奴 slave and 妒 jealous. Calligraphers traditionally treat 女 as a test of balance because the crossing stroke must sit precisely to keep the kneeling posture legible.
Basic info
| Pinyin | nǚ |
| Meanings | female |
| Radical | 女 (#38: woman) |
| New HSK exam | Recognise at HSK 1, write by hand at HSK 1-2 |
| Frequency | #395 most common |
Example sentences
Words containing 女
Related characters
On the new HSK 1 exam
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Reviewed by RJ Murray, Founder, HSK Lord.