无恙 (wú yàng) — to be safe and sound; to be in good health (for…

Definition

Literary/formal 'safe and sound / in good health', used in set phrases like 别来无恙? ('how have you been?') and 安然无恙 ('unscathed'). Not for everyday use.

verb

to be safe and soundto be in good health (formal/literary)

Examples

，无恙？
Duō nián bú jiàn, bié lái wú yàng?
Long time no see — have you been well?
，无恙。
Dì zhèn zhī hòu, suǒ yǒu cūn mín dōu ān rán wú yàng.
After the earthquake, all the villagers were safe and sound.
无恙，。
Dé zhī nín shēn tǐ wú yàng, wǒ jiù fàng xīn le.
Knowing that you are in good health, I feel relieved.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

无wúlack/not have

恙yàngillness/trouble

“无” means lack/not have, and “恙” means illness/trouble, so it says safe and sound.

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

心心xīn

Sound part声符shēngfú

羊

羊yáng恙yàng

Same sound today

恙 is built from 心, the heart part, and 羊, which gives the sound.

Open 恙 →

Appears in

Safety & Danger