take son-in-law; marry into wife's family
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
2 senses · 5 examplesverb
to take a son-in-law by marriage (of a family seeking a husband for their daughter to live with them)
From the perspective of the bride's family. Traditionally practiced by families without sons to continue the family line.
Lǐ李
jiā家
yǒu有
nǚ女
wú无
zǐ子
，
jué决
dìng定
zhāo招
qīn亲
。
The Li family has daughters but no sons, so they decided to take a son-in-law by marriage.
Gǔ古
dài代
zhāo招
qīn亲
wǎng往
wǎng往
yào要
tiāo挑
xuǎn选
dé德
cái才
jiān兼
bèi备
de的
nán男
zǐ子
。
In ancient times, taking a son-in-law by marriage usually involved selecting a man of both virtue and talent.
verb
to marry into a woman's family and live with her parents (of a man); to become an uxorilocal son-in-law
From the perspective of the man entering the wife's family. Also known as 倒插门 in colloquial speech.
Tā他
yīn因
wèi为
jiā家
pín贫
，
zhǐ只
hǎo好
dào到
Zhāng张
jiā家
zhāo招
qīn亲
。
Because his family was poor, he had no choice but to marry into the Zhang family.
Zài在
chuán传
tǒng统
guān观
niàn念
lǐ里
，
zhāo招
qīn亲
de的
nán男
rén人
wǎng往
wǎng往
bèi被
rén人
kàn看
bù不
qǐ起
。
In traditional thinking, men who married into their wives' families were often looked down upon.
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Tā他
nìng宁
yuàn愿
zhāo招
qīn亲
yě也
yào要
hé和
xīn心
ài爱
de的
nǚ女
rén人
zài在
yī一
qǐ起
。
He would rather marry into her family than give up being with the woman he loved.