How to Write 嫒 (ài) — Meaning “Daughter (honorific).”

Imagine a loving parent sending a gift to their "愛" (love) – their daughter, indicated by the 女 radical. So think of 嫒 as "the woman (女) you love (爱)," which helps you recall that it is an honorific for someone's daughter.

The left part 女 must be written with the third stroke (the diagonal left) crossing under the first two strokes, and its final horizontal stroke should be kept short. The right part 爱 has a dot on top and a longer bottom '夂' component – make sure the 13 strokes are balanced so the character is not too wide.

娶 (qǔ, to marry a wife) has the 女 radical with 取 (take) and means the act of taking a wife, not a daughter. 娼 (chāng, prostitute) also has 女 but with 昌 (prosperous) and has a completely negative meaning. In contrast, 嫒 specifically refers to someone else's daughter in a respectful way.

嫒 is a very formal, honorific word used to refer to someone else's daughter, almost always in phrases like 令嫒 (lìng ài) or 尊嫒 (zūn ài). It appears in polite letters, announcements, or respectful conversation, but is rarely used in everyday spoken Chinese today.

Common words containing 嫒 include: 令嫒 (lìng ài) — your daughter (honorific); 尊嫒 (zūn ài) — Your daughter (honorific); 嫒女 (ài nǚ) — Daughter (honorific)..