媾 (gòu) · to make peace; to come to terms (with an enemy)

Meanings

1 to make peace; to come to terms (with an enemy)
2 to intermarry; to copulate

Characters

媾

gòu

to make peace; to intermarry

Examples

HSK 6

两国终于媾和，结束了战争。

Liǎng guó zhōngyú gòuhé, jiéshù le zhànzhēng.

The two states finally made peace and ended the war.

HSK 7-9

古时两族屡次婚媾。

Gǔshí liǎng zú lǚcì hūngòu.

In ancient times the two clans were repeatedly joined by marriage.

Tips

usage

媾 is literary. The reading you will actually meet is 媾和 ('to sue for peace, make terms'). Its other senses, intermarriage and sexual union, are classical and now rare.

Components

radical

女 nǚ

woman

女 is the woman radical. The earliest sense was marriage joining two families through a woman, which is why the kinship and union meanings sit under this radical.

phonetic

冓 gòu

phonetic element (interlocking)

冓 gives the sound gòu. It pictures things meshed or interlocked, fitting the idea of two parties joined, whether by marriage or by a peace settlement.