How to Write 妁 (shuò) — Meaning “matchmaker”

Imagine a woman (女) holding a spoon (勺) to stir a special matchmaking soup, carefully mixing two people together. The spoon is her tool for creating the perfect match. This visual helps link the character’s parts to its meaning 'matchmaker'.

When writing 妁, first write the left radical 女: start with the left-slanting stroke, then the right-slanting stroke, and finally the horizontal stroke that crosses at the middle. Then add the right part 勺: a short left-falling stroke, a horizontal stroke, and a curved hook stroke; be careful not to make the hook too large. A common mistake is making the 女 too wide, so keep it narrow to leave space for 勺.

妁 has the right component 勺 (spoon), while 奴 has 又 (hand) meaning 'slave' (woman controlled by a hand), and 奶 has 乃 (archaic 'be' or 'thus') meaning 'milk' or 'breast'. Visually, 妁 looks like a woman with a spoon, 奴 looks like a woman with a hand, and 奶 looks like a woman with a curved element. Their meanings and usage are completely different, with 妁 being rare and classical.

妁 is almost never used alone today; it appears only in the classical compound 媒妁 (matchmaker) and the idiom 媒妁之言 (the words of a matchmaker). The term is literary and historical, reflecting the important role of matchmakers in traditional arranged marriages. Modern Chinese speakers typically use the word 媒人 instead.

Common words containing 妁 include: 媒妁 (méi shuò) — Matchmaker.; 媒妁之言 (méi shuò zhī yán) — The words of a matchmaker.; 妁 (shuò) — matchmaker.