cai1 cip3妻妾
Jyutpingcai1 cip3
Yalechāi chip
Definition
A polygamous man's wife and concubines.
writtenfamilypeople
How it's used
This term is almost exclusively used in historical or literary contexts to describe the traditional patriarchal family structure. It carries a strong sense of archaic social hierarchy and is rarely used to describe modern relationships. When used in casual conversation, it often appears in the idiom 妻妾成群 to describe someone with an excessive number of partners.
Examples
He has a whole house full of wives and concubines, it is really exaggerated.
Was it very common for men in ancient times to have wives and concubines?
Related words
Common phrases
to have a large number of wives and concubines
Common mistake
Do not use this to refer to a modern man's wife and girlfriend, as that would be highly offensive and factually incorrect. It specifically refers to the historical institution of concubinage.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
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Classifier
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Grammar guides
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
