奴 (nú): slave
奴 (nú) is a Chinese character meaning “slave.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 女 (structural) and 又 (structural). It ranks #1394 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 奴 a woman 女 standing by her master's right hand 又; 女 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 女 (woman) appears in many related characters such as 女 (nǚ, woman), 奶 (nǎi, grandmother, milk), 她 (tā, she).
Definitions
- slave
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA woman 女 standing by her master's right hand 又; 女 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿰女又 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 奴 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 奴隶 | nú lì | slave |
| 奴役 | nú yì | to enslave |
| 奴隶制 | nú lì zhì | slavery |
| 奴仆 | nú pú | servant |
| 奴才 | nú cai | slave |
| 奴隶主 | nú lì zhǔ | slave owner |
| 守财奴 | shǒu cái nú | miser |
| 匈奴 | xiōng nú | Xiongnu, a people of the Eastern Steppe who created an empire that flourished around the time of the Qin and Han dyna... |
| 奴隶制度 | nú lì zhì dù | slavery |
| 奴婢 | nú bì | slave servant |
| 农奴 | nóng nú | serf |
| 史奴比 | shǐ nú bǐ | Snoopy (comic strip pet dog) |
| 奴性 | nú xìng | servility |
| 家奴 | jiā nú | domestic slave |
| 奴工 | nú gōng | slave labor |
奴 appears in 47 compound words: 34 as the first character, 45 as the last, and 21 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 奴 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
if it's plowing, ask the laborer (idiom); when managing a matter, consult the appropriate specialist
if it's plowing, ask the laborer (idiom); when managing a matter, consult the appropriate specialist
Example Sentences
奴隶制度已被废除。
Núlì zhìdù yǐ bèi fèichú.
The slavery system has been abolished.
伊朗局势|荷里活名导昆顿塔伦天奴网传空袭丧生 已证实安然无恙
yī lǎng jú shì hé lǐ huó míng dǎo kūn dùn tǎ lún tiān nú wǎng chuán kōng xí sāng shēng yǐ zhèng shí ān rán wú 恙
Situation in Iran|Hollywood director Quinton Tarantino was killed in an airstrike online and has been confirmed to be safe and sound
...爆性丑闻 藉工诱女模赴美 非法禁锢逼当性奴
. . . bào xìng chǒu wén 藉 gōng yòu nǚ mó fù měi fēi fǎ jīn 锢 bī dāng xìng nú
... Explosive sex scandal Illegal imprisonment of female models to the United States by using work to force them to be sex slaves
英超|北倫敦打吡阿仙奴作客4:1勝熱刺 伊斯、約基尼斯梅開二度
yīng chāo běi 倫 dūn dǎ 吡 ā xiān nú zuò kè 勝 熱 cì yī sī 約 jī ní sī méi 開 èr dù
EPL | Arsenal beat Tottenham Hotspur 4:1 in North London
英超|阿仙奴作客4:1勝熱刺 伊斯及基奧基尼斯各入兩...
yīng chāo ā xiān nú zuò kè 勝 熱 cì yī sī jí jī 奧 jī ní sī gè rù 兩 . . .
EPL | Arsenal beat Tottenham Hotspur 4-1, with Isles and Keokinis scoring twice...
林肯反对奴隶制度。
Línkěn fǎnduì núlìzhìdù.
Lincoln was opposed to slavery.
美国废除了奴隶制度。
Měiguó fèichú le núlì zhìdù.
America did away with slavery.
战争即和平，自由即奴役，无知即力量。
Zhànzhēng jí hépíng, zìyóu jí núyì, wúzhī jí lìliang.
War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.
他让人们摆脱了奴役。
Tā ràng rénmen bǎituō le núyì.
He liberated the people from bondage.
奴役制是一种危害人类罪。
Núyì zhì shì yīzhǒng wēihài rénlèi zuì.
Slavery is a crime against humanity.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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