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Chinese/Dictionary entry

女子无才便是德

nǚ zǐ wú cái biàn shì dédictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
a woman's virtue is to have no talent (idiom)
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-28ac0815a09680f5. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

女子無才便是德 女子无才便是德 [nu:3 zi3 wu2 cai2 bian4 shi4 de2] /a woman's virtue is to have no talent (idiom)/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 女子無才便是德

  • 女
    nǚ

    female / woman / daughter

    rǔ

    See the full entry for source details.

  • 子
    zǐ

    son / child / seed / egg / small thing / 1st earthly branch: 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight, 11th solar month (7th December to 5th January), year of the rat / viscount, fourth of five orders of nobility 五等爵位[wǔ děng jué wèi] / ancient Chinese compass point: 0° (north) / subsidiary / subordinate / (prefix) sub-

    zi

    noun suffix, as in 椅子[yǐ zi] "chair"

  • 无
    mó

    used in 南無|南无[nā mó]

    wú

    not to have / no / none / not / to lack / un- / -less

  • 才
    cái

    ability / talent / sb of a certain type / a capable individual / then and only then / just now / (before an expression of quantity) only / (emphatic, esp. in contrast or correction) really / actually / (variant of 才[cái]) just now / (variant of 才[cái]) (before an expression of quantity) only

  • 便
    biàn

    plain / informal / suitable / convenient / opportune / to urinate or defecate / equivalent to 就[jiù]: then / in that case / even if / soon afterwards

    pián

    used in 便宜[pián yi] / used in 便便[pián pián] / used in 便嬛[pián xuān]

  • 是
    shì

    to be (followed by substantives only) / correct / right / true / (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well / (adverb for emphatic assertion)

  • 德
    dé

    virtue / goodness / morality / ethics / kindness / favor / character / kind

    Dé

    Germany / German / abbr. for 德國|德国[Dé guó]

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.