yuanyang

noun

1. A pair of mandarin ducks, one male and one female, as a symbol of faithful union.

   countable, uncountable

   The yuanyang are the male and female respectively of Anas galericulata, commonly called by Europeans "Mandarin duck." These beautiful water-fowl manifest when mated a singular degree of attachment for each other, and they have hence been elevated into the emblems of connubial affection and fidelity.

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Mandarin 鴛鴦 /鸳鸯 (yuānyāng, literally “male (鴛) and female (鴦) mandarin duck”).

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry yuanyang (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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