妻子

Etymology & Components

The Chinese word 妻子 (qīzi) for "wife" is composed of two characters: 妻 (qī) and 子 (zi). The character 妻 originally meant "a woman who is married" and was often used in contrast to the character 妾 (qiè), which meant "a concubine". The character 子 originally meant "a child" and was often used in contrast to the character 女 (nǚ), which meant "a woman". Over time, the character 妻 came to be used more broadly to refer to any woman who is married, regardless of her social status, while the character 子 came to be used more broadly to refer to any child, regardless of their gender. The combination of the two characters 妻 and 子 thus came to mean "wife".