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安生 (ān shēng) — (of life, environment) peaceful, stable, free from disturbance; (of a person, usually in negative or rhetorical) calm, well-behaved, not causing trouble

Definition

Used for a peaceful, undisturbed life or environment. As a comment on a person's behavior, 安生 typically appears in the negative (不∼) — meaning 'not settling down, making trouble'.

adjective
(of life, environment) peacefulstablefree from disturbance(of a person, usually in negative or rhetorical) calmwell-behavednot causing trouble

Examples

  • ，安生。
    Tuì xiū hòu, tā xiǎng guò jǐ nián ān shēng de rì zi.
    After retirement, he wants to live a few years of peaceful life.
  • ，。
    Zhè hái zi zhēn bù ān shēng, yì tiān dào wǎn nào teng.
    This child is really restless; he makes a racket all day long.
  • ，安生。
    Xī wàng zhè jiàn shì zǎo diǎn jié shù, dà jiā dōu néng ān shēng xiē.
    I hope this matter ends soon so everyone can be a bit more at ease.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

安ānpeaceful
生shēnglife

安 gives peaceful and 生 gives life, describing a calm, undisturbed way of living.

Characters in this word

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
宀宀mián
Sound part声符shēngfú
女
女nǚ安ān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 安, 宀 sits above a seated 女 on a cushion; 宀 is the meaning part, 女 is the sound part, and the character originally meant sitting at ease.

Open 安 →

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.

Open 生 →
Appears in
Abstract Concepts

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