不惑之年 (bú huò zhī nián) — forty years of age; age 40 (literary term)

Definition

Literary term meaning 'the age of forty,' from the Confucian saying 四十不惑 ('at forty, one has no doubts'). Use in writing or formal speech about reaching forty — not in casual conversation.

noun
forty years of ageage 40 (literary term)

Examples

  • 不惑之年，。
    Tā yǐ jīng guò le bú huò zhī nián, zuò shì gèng jiā chén wěn.
    He has passed the age of forty and does things with more composure.
  • 不惑之年。
    bú huò zhī nián Shì rén shēng zhōng yí gè zhòng yào de zhuǎn zhé diǎn.
    Forty is an important turning point in one's life.
  • 不惑之年。
    Tā zài bú huò zhī nián shí xuǎn zé le cí zhí chuàng yè.
    She chose to quit her job and start a business at the age of forty.

Origin

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
或
或huò惑huò
Same sound today

惑 uses 或 for the sound and 心, the heart, for the meaning.

Open 惑 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The shape pairs 止, a foot, with 一, a beginning place, and means to go.

Open 之 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
禾禾héwheat; grain
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén年nián
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

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