女nǚ

女

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Simplified · Today

简体

Simplified Chinese

Modern simplified form (簡體). 女 (nǚ, "woman") remains unchanged from its traditional counterpart — a pictograph depicting a person in a kneeling position with arms crossed, a posture of deference that defined feminine roles in ancient Chinese society. As a radical, it appears in 妈 (mother), 奶 (grandmother), 姐 (older sister), 妹 (younger sister) and countless other family and gender-related characters.

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Shuowen

Woman. The pictograph depicts a woman seated in the traditional kneeling posture with arms folded and legs beneath her. This character serves as the radical for all female-related meanings, and its form preserves the ancient seated posture once customary in daily life.

Pinyin

nǚ· HSK 1· Radical 女

女nǚ

Character evolution

Shuowen

Pinyin