妻

Wife.

Can function as a verb meaning "to take as a wife" or "to marry," specifically denoting the act of bringing a woman into the domestic sphere/household.

A term of specific rank rather than a generic descriptor for a female partner. A rigorous distinction exists between the //qī// (妻, primary wife) and the //qiè// (妾, concubine), carrying significant weight regarding ritual obligations, inheritance rights, and standing within the ancestral line.

The term functions as a marker of social order and possession. Care should be taken not to modernize or soften the term in a way that obscures the patriarchal domestic structure it represents.