媾

Core sense of "joining" or "union," applied across three primary ranges:

1. Physical Union: Sexual intercourse (copulation).

2. Social/Legal Union: Marriage, including both the ritual arrangement and the resulting state of being wed.

3. Political/Diplomatic Union: The establishment of an alliance, reconciliation between warring parties, or a formal cessation of hostilities.

The glyph combines 女 (woman) with 購 (to buy/purchase), reflecting historical contexts of marriage as a transaction, such as bride-price or political exchange.

• Register Shift: Distinguish between biological and formal contexts. Use "copulation" or "union" for procreative or physical descriptions; use "marriage" or "alliance" for texts concerning ritual, law, or statecraft.
• Diplomatic Nuance: In political contexts, the term implies a strategic, pragmatic alignment of interests—often transactional in nature—to end conflict.