出生于 (chū shēng yú) — to be born in (a place or time)

Definition

出生 (chūshēng) means 'to be born'; adding 于 locates the place or time, so 出生于 = 'be born in/at'. Use it when specifying where or when.

verb

to be born in (a place or time)

出生于。
Tā chū shēng yú běi jīng de yí gè pǔ tōng jiā tíng.
He was born in an ordinary family in Beijing.
出生于1866。
Sūn zhōng shān xiān sheng chū shēng yú 1866 nián.
Dr. Sun Yat-sen was born in 1866.
出生于，。
Zhè wèi zuò jiā chū shēng yú yí gè xiǎo chéng, hòu lái yí jū dào dà chéng shì.
This writer was born in a small town and later moved to a big city.

Characters in this word

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

出 combines 止 (foot) and 凵 (cave) to show a foot stepping out of a cave.

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

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

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

The old shape of 于 may have pictured an ancient wind instrument. Another explanation reads 一 as a flat stream of air and 丂 as an exhaling mark.