堂兄

tángxiōng
noun #9,717

Meanings

  1. 1 older male patrilineal cousin (father's brother's son who is older than you)

Characters

(same ancestral hall = paternal side) + (older brother) = older male patrilineal cousin.

Examples

Wǒ tángxiōng bǐ wǒ dà sān suì.
My (paternal) cousin is three years older than me.
Tángxiōng xià gè yuè jiéhūn.
My cousin is getting married next month.
Wǒ hé tángxiōng xiǎoshíhou jīngcháng yīqǐ wán.
My cousin and I used to play together a lot as kids.

Tips

culture
Chinese distinguishes cousins precisely: (táng, same surname/paternal) vs (biǎo, different surname/maternal), and (older brother) vs (younger brother) vs (older sister) vs (younger sister). So 堂兄 = older male cousin on father's side.
memory
means 'hall' — cousins who share the same ancestral hall (same surname, same paternal lineage). cousins are 'outside' the hall.

Stroke Order

táng
xiōng