孀 (shuāng) · widow

Meanings

1 widow

Characters

孀

shuāng

widow

Examples

HSK 6

丈夫死后，她孀居了许多年。

Zhàngfu sǐ hòu, tā shuāngjū le xǔduō nián.

After her husband died she lived as a widow for many years.

HSK 6

邻居的孀妇有个小儿子。

Línjū de shuāngfù yǒu gè xiǎo érzi.

A neighbor's widow had a young son.

Tips

register

孀 is a literary, bound character for a widow, seen in 孀妇 (widow) and 孀居 (to live as a widow). Everyday speech uses 寡妇.

Components

radical

女 nǚ

woman

The woman radical 女 on the left fixes the meaning: a widow is a woman whose husband has died.

phonetic

霜 shuāng

frost

霜 supplies the sound shuāng, matching its own reading. Its cold, lonely image of frost also faintly suits the solitary life of a widow.

Stroke Order

孀 shuāng

Related Words

遗孀 yíshuāng #12,673

widow

寡妇 guǎfu HSK 7-9 #5,951

widow

未亡人 wèiwángrén

widow / the one not yet dead

守寡 shǒuguǎ #37,050

to live as a widow / to remain unmarried after a husband's death / to observe widowhood

鳏 guān #52,950

a man whose wife has died and not remarried; widower

鳏寡孤独废疾者皆有所养 guān guǎ gū dú fèi jí zhě jiē yǒu suǒ yǎng

widowers, widows, orphans, the childless, the disabled and the sick - all are provided for / a society where the vulnerable are cared for by the community / classical blueprint of the 'Great Harmony' welfare ideal

续弦 xùxián

(of a widower) to remarry / to take a second wife after the first one has died

转嫁 zhuǎnjià #26,830

to shift (blame, costs, burden) onto someone else / to pass the buck / (of a widow) to remarry

改嫁 gǎijià #31,192

to remarry (of a woman, after divorce or widowhood) / to take a new husband

鳏夫 guānfū #18,406

widower / old bachelor