孑然 (jié rán) — (literary) solitary; alone; all by oneself | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literary/adverbial form meaning 'all alone' — used almost exclusively in the set phrases 孑然一身 and 孑然无依. Stronger and more formal than everyday 单独.

verb

(literary) solitaryaloneall by oneself

Examples

孑然，。
Tā jié rán yì shēng, cóng wèi jié hūn.
He has been alone all his life and never married.
孑然。
Tā jié rán dì zhàn zài wú rén de hǎi tān shàng.
She stood all alone on the deserted beach.
孑然，。
Lǎo rén jié rán wú yī, zhù jìn le yǎng lǎo yuàn.
The old man, lonely and helpless, moved into a nursing home.

Origin

Derived word

构词法gòucífǎ

后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

孑jiésolitary

孑 means solitary, and 然 adds the sense of being in that state, yielding solitary.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

火火huǒfire

Sound part声符shēngfú

肰

肰rán然rán

Same sound today

然 is made from 肰, which gives the sound, and 火, which shows fire, matching the old sense 'to burn'.

Appears in

Emotions & Feelings

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