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有生之年 (yǒu shēng zhī nián) — the rest of one's life; the years one has left to live

Definition

noun
the rest of one's lifethe years one has left to live

Examples

  • ，。
    Zài yǒu shēng zhī nián, wǒ yí dìng yào qù zhōng guó kàn kàn.
    In my remaining years, I must go to China to see it.
  • 有生之年。
    Tā xī wàng zài yǒu shēng zhī nián wán chéng zì jǐ de xiǎo shuō.
    He hopes to finish his novel in his remaining years.
  • ，。
    Yǒu shēng zhī nián, wǒ huì yì zhí jì de nǐ.
    For the rest of my life, I will always remember you.

Origin

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
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 →

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 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The shape pairs 止, a foot, with 一, a beginning place, and means to go.

Open 之 →

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
禾禾héwheat; grain
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén年nián
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

Open 年 →
Appears in
Idioms & Set PhrasesLife Stages & AgeTime (Abstract)

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