婦人

ふじん · fujin · JLPT N3 · noun

woman

婦人 — woman

👩 婦人 = wife/married woman + person; a formal, slightly old word for woman

婦 (fu) is woman 女 next to a broom 帚, an old sign for a wife or married woman, and 人 (jin) means person. Today it sounds formal or dated, as in 婦人服 (women's clothing); 女性 is the everyday word.

人 — pictograph of a standing person
人 is a pictograph showing a person viewed from the side, with two strokes representing the legs and torso of a standing human. In oracle bone script it clearly depicted a figure leaning slightly forward. The meaning has remained 'person' or 'human' throughout its history.

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