渺 (miǎo) — (adjective) vast and boundless (especially of water); (adjective) distant and indistinct, remote; (adjective) tiny, insignificant
Definition
A bound literary adjective (almost always paired with 茫 or 小) meaning 'vast and remote' or 'tiny and insignificant'. It's the written-form partner of the more common verb 茫 in 渺茫.
adjective
vast and boundless (especially of water)distant and indistinctremotetinyinsignificant
Examples
- 渺渺，。Yān bō miǎo miǎo, yí wàng wú jì.The misty waters stretch vast and boundless as far as the eye can see.
- ，。Xī wàng yǐ jīng hěn miǎo máng le, dàn tā hái zài jiān chí.Hope is already very remote and uncertain, but he still persists.
- 。Gè rén de lì liàng zài lì shǐ cháng hé zhōng xiǎn de shí fēn miǎo xiǎo.Individual power appears extremely insignificant in the long river of history.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
Sound part声符shēngfú
眇
眇miǎo渺
Same sound today
渺 is built from 氵 (water) plus 眇, which gives the sound.
Appears in
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