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无性 (wú xìng) — asexual (biology, reproduction); sexless, without sex or gender (e.g., 无性婚姻)

Definition

adjective
asexual (biology, reproduction)sexlesswithout sex or gender (e.g., 无性婚姻)

Examples

  • 无性。
    Xǔ duō xì jūn tōng guò wú xìng fán zhí.
    Many bacteria reproduce asexually.
  • 无性。
    wú xìng Hūn yīn zài zhōng guó yuè lái yuè cháng jiàn.
    Sexless marriages are becoming more and more common in China.
  • 无性。
    wú xìng Shēng zhí shì mǒu xiē zhí wù de tè diǎn.
    Asexual reproduction is a characteristic of some plants.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

无wúnot have
性xìngsex

无 means 'not have' and 性 means 'sex', so together they mean without sex.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 無; 无 is its simplified writing.

For the simplified 无, the story is about 無. 無 drew a person dancing with ox tails held in both hands to pray for rain, then was borrowed for 'have no', so the picture does not explain that meaning.

Open 无 →

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
忄Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
生
生shēng性xìng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

性 is built from 忄 (the heart) and 生 (a sound clue). The heart part connects the word to a person's inner nature or quality.

Open 性 →
Appears in
Biology

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