厄 (è) — (bound form) strategic pass or place; (bound form) hardship, difficulty, disaster
Definition
厄 is a bound classical/literary root meaning 'hardship, misfortune' (e.g. 厄运 bad luck, 困境 hardship), and also refers to a strategic mountain pass. It is bound: it is not used alone in modern prose and appears mainly as part of set compounds.
bound form
strategic pass or placehardshipdifficultydisaster
Examples
- 。Tā zāo yù le duō cì è yùn.He encountered many strokes of bad luck.
- 厄，。Zài nà duàn è jìng zhōng, tā jiān chí le xià lái.He persevered through that period of hardship.
- 。Jīng jì è yùn yǐng xiǎng le zhěng gè háng yè.Economic misfortune affected the entire industry.
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.
Meaning part形符xíngfú
卪卪jiéjoint; node
Sound part声符shēngfú
厂
厂chǎng厄è
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.
The shape 厄 may come from a drawing of a kneeling figure 卪 with a small stroke 厂 marking the knee.
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