安居 (ān jū) — to live in peace and comfort, to settle down stably

Definition

安居 is a formal/written verb meaning 'to settle down and live in peace' — usually paired with 乐业 as the set phrase 安居乐业 ('live and work in peace and contentment').

verb
to live in peace and comfortto settle down stably

Examples

  • ，。
    Zhèng fǔ bāng zhù zāi mín chóng jiàn jiā yuán, ān jū lè yè.
    The government helped disaster victims rebuild their homes, living in peace and working happily.
  • ，安居。
    Zhè ge xiǎo qū huán jìng yōu měi, jū mín ān jū.
    This neighborhood has a beautiful environment, and the residents live in peace.
  • ，安居。
    Tā men zhōng yú yǒu le zì jǐ de fáng zi, kě yǐ ān jū le.
    They finally have their own house and can settle down peacefully.

Origin

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.

安ānpeaceful
居jūlive

安 means peaceful and 居 means live, so the word says to live peacefully.

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
宀宀mián
Sound part声符shēngfú
女
女nǚ安ān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 安, 宀 sits above a seated 女 on a cushion; 宀 is the meaning part, 女 is the sound part, and the character originally meant sitting at ease.

Open 安 →

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
尸尸shī
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ居jū
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

居 is built from 尸 as the meaning part and 古 (gǔ) as the sound part.

Open 居 →

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