无所不有 (wú suǒ bù yǒu) — having everything; all-encompassing; omnifarious

Definition

Literally 'nothing is not had' — means 'everything imaginable is present,' used for a place or collection that contains a vast range of items. Stronger than 各种各样, which only means 'all kinds.'

idiom
having everythingall-encompassingomnifarious
Easily confused

Examples

  • ，无所不有。
    Zhè ge chāo shì de shāng pǐn zhǒng lèi fán duō, jī hū wú suǒ bù yǒu.
    This supermarket has a wide variety of goods, almost everything you can imagine.
  • 、、无所不有，。
    Tā de shū fáng lǐ shū jí, wén jù, mó xíng wú suǒ bù yǒu, xiàng gè xiǎo xíng tú shū guǎn.
    His study has books, stationery, and models — everything, like a small library.
  • ，无所不有。
    Zài zhè ge bó wù guǎn lǐ, cóng gǔ dài wén wù dào xiàn dài yì shù pǐn wú suǒ bù yǒu.
    In this museum, from ancient artifacts to modern artworks, there is everything.

Origin

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
肉肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
又
又yòu有yǒu
Same sound today

The form 有 combines 又, used for its sound, with a shape from 肉, 'meat'; the hand-holding-meat story is a folk explanation, not shown in the oldest shape.

Open 有 →

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