master; scholar; teacher; husband; pedant
Meanings
4 senses · 9 examplesnoun
honorific title for scholars or learned individuals (old)
archaicUsed as a respectful form of address for eminent scholars, most notably Confucius (孔子) and Zhu Xi (朱子).
Confucius was revered by later generations as the Supreme Sage and First Teacher, and people called him Master Kong.
Master Zhu was the great synthesizer of Neo-Confucianism during the Song Dynasty.
noun
teacher (as addressed by students in former times, often in letters)
archaicA respectful form of address used by students when writing to their teacher. Rarely used in modern spoken Chinese.
Your student respectfully reports to you, Master, that recent studies have shown considerable improvement.
The master's teachings are engraved on this student's heart and dare not be forgotten.
noun
husband (as addressed by wife in former times)
archaicAn archaic form used by wives to refer to or address their husbands, found in classical literature.
My husband has gone out and not yet returned; please come again tomorrow.
This wife does not know what her husband thinks of the matter.
noun
pedant; bookworm (one who reads ancient books and has outdated thinking; derogatory)
derogatoryUsed mockingly to describe someone who is overly obsessed with classical texts and lacks practical sense or modern thinking. Often combined with adjectives like 老 (old) or 迂 (stubbornly pedantic).
He is an old pedant who all day long can only quote classics, completely impractical.
Can you stop being so pedantic? What era do you think this is now?
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A stubborn pedant only knows to read books rigidly and doesn't understand flexibility.