妻 (qī): wife
妻 (qī) is a Chinese character meaning “wife.” Classified as HSK Level 2 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), with radical 女 (woman). It ranks #1075 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 妻 a woman 女 holding a broom 十 in her hand 彐. Its radical form 女 (woman) appears in many related characters such as 女 (nǚ, woman), 奶 (nǎi, grandmother, milk), 她 (tā, she).
Definitions
- wife
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA woman 女 holding a broom 十 in her hand 彐
Decomposition: ⿱⿻十彐女 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 妻 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 妻
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 前妻 | qián qī | ex-wife |
| 未婚妻 | wèi hūn qī | fiancée |
| 妻室 | qī shì | wife |
| 妻妾 | qī qiè | wives and concubines (of a polygamous man) |
| 妻小 | qī xiǎo | wife and children |
| 发妻 | fà qī | first wife |
| 一夫一妻 | yī fū yī qī | monogamy |
| 一夫多妻 | yī fū duō qī | polygamy |
| 一妻制 | yī qī zhì | monogamy |
| 多妻制 | duō qī zhì | polygamy |
| 少年夫妻老来伴 | shào nián fū qī lǎo lái bàn | husband and wife in youth, companions in old age |
| 夫妻反目 | fū qī fǎn mù | man and wife fall out (idiom, from Book of Changes) |
| 人妻 | rén qī | married woman |
| 夫妻相 | fū qī xiàng | similarity in features of an old couple |
| 同妻 | tóng qī | (neologism c. 2009) wife of a gay man (the man may marry to conform with social expectations, and the woman often ent... |
妻 appears in 42 compound words: 17 as the first character, 52 as the last, and 31 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 妻 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (6)
to bestow a title on the wife of a deserving official and make his son heir to his titles
Example Sentences
他的妻子也是医生，两人在同一家医院工作。
Tā de qīzi yě shì yīshēng, liǎng rén zài tóng yì jiā yīyuàn gōngzuò.
His wife is also a doctor; they both work at the same hospital.
Matzka妻“小公司拿大标案” 不法金流数百万
M a t z k a qī xiǎo gōng sī ná dà biāo àn bù fǎ jīn liú shǔ bǎi wàn
Matzka's wife "small company takes big bids" illegally flows millions of dollars
吊車大王警告4妻「嚴禁送孩出國留學」否則斷金援:不認孩!...
diào 車 dà wáng jǐng gào qī 嚴 jīn sòng hái chū 國 liú 學 fǒu 則 斷 jīn yuán bù 認 hái ! . . .
Crane King warns 4 wives: "Strictly forbidden to send children abroad for studies" or financial support will be cut off: He won't acknowledge the children!...
桃園人妻晨間潑酸毀夫雙眼 獲緩刑理由曝光
táo 園 rén qī chén 間 潑 suān 毀 fū 雙 yǎn 獲 緩 xíng lǐ yóu pù guāng
Taoyuan Wife Splashes Acid on Husband's Eyes in the Morning, Reasons for Probation Revealed
4寶爸出軌小三24次!性愛行事曆曝光 人妻試圖私了遭拒怒告索償
寶 bà chū 軌 xiǎo sān cì ! xìng 愛 háng shì 曆 pù guāng rén qī 試 圖 sī le zāo jù nù gào suǒ 償
4 BaoDa cheated on his mistress 24 times! Sex Calendar Exposed, Wife Tries to Settle Claims, Sues for Damages
冬奥会|家乡连线:“最强夫妻档”!电影都不敢这么演..
dōng ào huì jiā xiāng lián xiàn zuì qiáng fū qī dàng ! diàn yǐng dōu bù gǎn zhè má yǎn . .
Winter Olympics | Home Connection: "The Strongest Couple Duo"! Even movies wouldn't dare portray it this way...
据说汤姆虐待妻子。
Jùshuō Tāngmǔ nüèdài qīzi.
Tom is said to mistreat his wife.
总统出国通常有妻子陪伴。
Zǒngtǒng chūguó tōngcháng yǒu qīzi péibàn.
The President is usually accompanied by his wife when he goes abroad.
我的妻子是乌鲁木齐人。
Wǒ de qīzi shì Wūlǔmùqí rén.
My wife is a native of Ürümqi.
他总是与他的妻子吵架。
Tā zǒngshì yǔ tā de qīzi chǎojià.
He always quarrels with his wife.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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