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低微 (dī wēi) — (of social status) lowly, humble; (of sound) low, soft, faint

Definition

Two distinct senses: 'lowly / humble' for social status or position, and 'low, soft, faint' for sound. The status sense is literary — everyday speech usually uses 卑微 or 地位低 instead.

adjective
(of social status) lowlyhumble(of sound) lowsoftfaint

Examples

  • 低微，。
    Tā suī rán chū shēn dī wēi, dàn kào zì jǐ de nǔ lì qǔ dé le chéng gōng.
    Although he came from a humble background, he achieved success through his own efforts.
  • 低微，。
    Tā shuō huà de shēng yīn hěn dī wēi, wǒ jī hū tīng bú jiàn.
    Her voice was so soft that I could hardly hear her.
  • ，低微，。
    Zài nà jiā gōng sī lǐ, tā de zhí wèi fēi cháng dī wēi, méi yǒu rén zhòng shì tā.
    In that company, his position was very lowly, and no one valued him.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

低dīlow
微wēihumble

低 and 微 both point to lowliness or humility.

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
亻Written in full as人rénman, person
Sound part声符shēngfú
氐
氐dī低dī
Same sound today

In 低, the left side 亻 is a person, and the right side 氐 gives the sound; the image is a person lowering or bowing themselves.

Open 低 →

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

The old form showed 𡵂 (a variant of 美, a person with long hair) and 攵 (a hand with a tool) splitting or combing hairs, hence minute; 微 later added 彳 to emphasize action.

Open 微 →
Appears in
Good & BadSocial Roles & Status

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