Chinese word

表姐

Pronunciation

Pinyinbiǎo jiě

Meaning

  • nounolder female cousin

Example

我昨天见到了表姐。wǒ zuó tiān jiàn dào le biáo jiě

I saw my older female cousin yesterday.

Illustration for 表姐 (older female cousin)

More examples

昨天我和表姐一起吃饭。zuó tiān wǒ hé biáo jiě yì qǐ chī fàn

Yesterday, I had dinner with my older female cousin.

Core concept

An older-sister-like cousin from the family's outer branch rather than the father's surname line.

Common phrases

  • 和表姐聊天hé biáo jiě liáo tiān

    chat with an older female cousin

  • 请表姐吃饭qǐng biáo jiě chī fàn

    invite an older female cousin to dinner

  • 给表姐发信息gěi biáo jiě fā xìn xī

    send a message to an older female cousin

Similar words

堂姐táng jiě: A female cousin who is older than the speaker and belongs to the father's surname line.
表妹biǎo mèi: A female cousin who is younger than the speaker and has a different family surname.
表哥biǎo gē: A male cousin who is older than the speaker and has a different family surname.
堂哥táng gē: A male cousin who is older than the speaker and belongs to the father's surname line.

Definition in Chinese

用于称呼比自己年纪大的女性表亲，通常指姓氏不同的一辈女性亲属。yòng yú chēng hū bǐ zì jǐ nián jì dà de nǚ xìng biǎo qīn tōng cháng zhǐ xìng shì bù tóng de yí bèi nǚ xìng qīn shǔ

Word origin

In the kinship system, 表 (biǎo, "outside the father's line") identifies the wider branch, while 姐 (jiě, "older sister") supplies the sense of an older female relative, producing this term.

Usage tips

  • The age reference is relative to the speaker, so a child can use this word for an older cousin; older does not mean adult.

Other meanings

  • female cousinnoun

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word