一霎那 (yī shà nā) — in an instant, in a split second, in the blink…

Definition

A literary, slightly more emphatic way to say 'in an instant / in the blink of an eye' — same meaning as 瞬间, but more rhetorical and written.

noun

in an instantin a split secondin the blink of an eye

一霎那，。
yī shà nā Zhī jiān, tiān kōng biàn àn le.
In an instant, the sky turned dark.
一霎那。
Nà yí mù fā shēng zài yī shà nā.
That scene happened in a split second.
一霎那，。
yī shà nā, Tā míng bai le zì jǐ de cuò wù.
In an instant, he realized his mistake.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

霎那instant

霎shà那nà

联绵Bound pair

一 joins with 霎那 to picture a split second.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

邑邑yìcity

Sound part声符shēngfú

冄

冉rǎn那nà

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The right part 邑 shows a city, and the left part 冄 (written 冉) gives the sound. The character first named a state and was later used to mean 'that'.