坐禅 (zuò chán) — to sit in meditation (Buddhist practice)

Definition

A Buddhist term meaning to sit in quiet meditation. It is a set verb-object phrase (离合词) — the second character can separate, as in 坐一个小时的禅.

verb
to sit in meditation (Buddhist practice)

Examples

  • 坐禅。
    Tā jīng cháng zài jiā zuò chán.
    He often sits in meditation at home.
  • 。
    Zuó tiān wǒ zuò le yí gè xiǎo shí de chán.
    Yesterday I sat in meditation for an hour.
  • ？
    Nǐ zuò guò chán ma?
    Have you ever done sitting meditation?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

坐zuòsit
禅chánmeditation

To 坐 ('sit') in 禅 ('meditation') is to practice seated meditation.

Characters in this word

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

The form 坐 combines 留, 'to stay', and 土, 'ground'.

Open 坐 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 禪; 禅 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
示示shì
Sound part声符shēngfú
單
單dān禪chán
Same sound today

The traditional form 禪 pairs 示, a meaning part, with 單, a sound part; the simplified 禅 is a later abbreviation, so its right side is not the old sound part.

Open 禅 →

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