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无所不在 (wú suǒ bù zài) — ubiquitous, omnipresent

Definition

Literally 'nowhere is it not present': an idiom meaning something is present everywhere, in every place or context.

idiom
ubiquitousomnipresent

Examples

  • ，无所不在。
    Zài xiàn dài shēng huó zhōng, hù lián wǎng jī hū wú suǒ bù zài.
    In modern life, the internet is nearly ubiquitous.
  • 无所不在，。
    Zhè zhǒng shāng pǐn wú suǒ bù zài, dào chù dōu kě yǐ mǎi dào.
    This product is ubiquitous; you can buy it everywhere.
  • ，无所不在。
    Tā duì wèn tí de lǐ jiě shēn kè, tā de yǐng xiǎng wú suǒ bù zài.
    His understanding of the problem is profound, and his influence is omnipresent.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

无所no place
无wúno所suǒplace
动宾Verb + object
不在not present
不bùnot在zàipresent
偏正Modifier + head

无 no, 所 place, 不 not, 在 present: no place where it is not present.

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
斤斤jīnaxe
Sound part声符shēngfú
戶
戶hù所suǒ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

所 pairs 斤, an axe, with 戶, which gives the sound hù; the old meaning was the sound of logging.

Open 所 →

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

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

The early form of 在 used 才 for its sound; a second sound part 士 was added later, and that 士 became the 土 seen in 在.

Open 在 →
Appears in
Abstract ConceptsIdioms & Set Phrases

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