TSUMUGU · TOCFL B2 (est.) · 字
妻
妻 ＝ 女 ＋ 屮
ㄑㄧ · qī
noun — wife
字源 FORM — what the parts do
屮形a hand gathering hair above her
A woman (女) below, and above her a hand setting the hair up — the gesture of a married woman dressing her head. The whole graph names the wife: 妻子、夫妻.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
女（女）低著頭，一隻手在她髮上挽了個髻——成親了。
The woman (女) bows her head; a hand gathers her hair into a knot above — now she is wed.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)妻子— wife常用
→夫妻— husband and wife
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
妾qièthe lookalike — 妾 sets 立 over the woman, 妻 sets the gathering hand凄qīthe cousin in sound — ice 冫 in place of the hand