hūn
noun #2,144

Meanings

  1. 1 marriage; wedding
  2. 2 to marry

Examples

Tāmen míngnián jiéhūn.
They are getting married next year.
Hūnlǐ zài jiàotáng jǔxíng.
The wedding ceremony is held in a church.

Tips

usage
forms key compounds: 结婚 (to marry), 婚礼 (wedding ceremony), 离婚 (to divorce), 婚姻 (marriage). Contains (woman) — marriage traditionally centered on the bride.

Components

radical
woman
Left is the indexing woman radical — a kneeling figure with folded arms. Anchors as a relationship-word centred on the bride. Reflects the ancient practice that defined marriage from the woman's side of the family. Same kinship-radical family: mother, elder sister, to wed-out, to take-as-bride, wife.
phonetic
hūn
dusk; twilight (phonetic + semantic)
Right supplies the sound hūn exactly and packs in the original meaning: ancient weddings were held at dusk () when the groom went to fetch the bride. So reads literally as 'the woman-ceremony at twilight'. Sound-plus-semantic — not a pure phonetic loan. itself is lowering above sun, picturing the sun dropping past the horizon.

Stroke Order

hūn