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牝

pìn
adjective #85,314

Meanings

  1. 1 female (of birds, animals or plants)
  2. 2 (literary) the female principle; receptive / yin
  3. 3 keyhole / valley (rare technical senses)

Examples

牝鸡司晨，惟家之索。
Pìn jī sī chén, wéi jiā zhī suǒ.
When the hen announces the dawn, the household will fall (a saying from the Book of Documents).
古书把雌雄写作牝牡。
Gǔ shū bǎ cíxióng xiězuò pìnmǔ.
In classical texts 'female and male (animals)' is written 牝牡.

Tips

history
The phrase 牝鸡司晨 ('a hen heralds the dawn') comes from the Book of Documents (《尚书·牧誓》) — a warning against women meddling in politics, classically aimed at King Zhou of Shang's consort. It became standard rhetoric against any female ruler, fairly or not.
register
Strictly classical/literary. Modern Chinese uses 母 (mǔ) for female animals — 母鸡 mǔjī 'hen', 母牛 mǔniú 'cow'. 牝 only survives in fixed phrases.

Stroke Order

牝 pìn