Definition
叙 is a formal verb whose core sense is 'to narrate' or 'to recount' — it appears in compounds like 叙述 (to narrate), 叙事 (to tell a story), and 叙旧 (to reminisce). A secondary, more archaic sense is 'to assess' or 'to arrange in order', found in 叙功 (to evaluate merit) and 叙用 (to appoint according to rank). In modern Chinese it rarely stands alone as a monosyllabic verb; you mostly encounter it as the first character of a two-syllable word.
v.
to narrateto recount(archaic) to assessto arrange in order
Examples
- 。Tāmen zuò zài kāfēi guǎn lǐ xù jiù.They sat in the café reminiscing about the old days.
- 。Zhè piān xiǎoshuō xù shù le yí gè gǎnrén de gùshì.This novel recounts a touching story.
- 叙。Tā xù shuō le dàngtiān de jīngguò.He narrated the events of that day in detail.
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