娶 (qǔ): to marry (a woman); to take a w…

Meanings

1 to marry (a woman); to take a wife

Characters

娶

qu

to marry (a woman)

Top: 取 (qu, to take) + bottom: 女 (nu, woman) — literally "to take a woman"

Examples

他下个月要娶她了。

Tā xiàgeyuè yào qǔ tā le.

He's going to marry her next month.

他娶了一个日本太太。

Tā qǔ le yīge Rìběn tàitai.

He married a Japanese woman.

Tips

grammar

Chinese has two words for 'to marry' based on gender: 娶 is used for men (to take a wife), while 嫁 (jià) is used for women (to marry into the husband's family). The gender-neutral term is 结婚 (jiéhūn).

history

The character 娶 is composed of 取 (qǔ, to take) on top and 女 (nǚ, woman) on the bottom, literally depicting the ancient concept of 'taking a woman' as a bride.

Components

radical

女 nǚ

woman; female

Bottom woman radical — the indexing component. Marks 娶 as a marriage verb performed on a woman: to take a bride. Notably gendered: 娶 is what a man does to acquire a wife; the corresponding word for a woman to marry out is 嫁. Same radical in 婆, 妻, 嫁.

phonetic

取 qǔ

to take

Top 取 supplies the sound exactly: qǔ. 取 itself depicts an ear (耳) being grasped by a hand (又) — "to take, seize," an image from ancient battlefield trophy-taking. Strong semantic resonance too: in archaic marriage practice, a man "takes" a wife into his household.