寸草不生 (cùn cǎo bù shēng) — (idiom) barren, desolate, lifeless — describes land where nothing grows

Definition

Idiom for land so barren that not even a blade of grass grows. A vivid, literary image of total lifelessness — stronger than plain 'infertile'.

idiom
barren, desolate, lifeless — describes land where nothing grows

Examples

  • 寸草不生，。
    Zhè piàn shā mò cùn cǎo bù shēng, méi yǒu rèn hé zhí wù.
    This desert is barren, with no plants at all.
  • 寸草不生，。
    Nà ge dì fāng cùn cǎo bù shēng, lián yì kē shù dōu kàn bú jiàn.
    That place is so desolate you can't even see a single tree.
  • ，寸草不生。
    Jīng guò duō nián de wū rǎn, zhè lǐ biàn de cùn cǎo bù shēng le.
    After years of pollution, this place has become barren.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

寸草a blade of grass
寸cùninch草cǎograss
偏正Modifier + head
不生not grow
不bùnot生shēnggrow
偏正Modifier + head

寸草 (a blade of grass) is said to 不生 (not grow), describing barren land.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

寸 has two unrelated original forms: a line on the hand and an abbreviated form of another character. It was borrowed for its sound, so the picture is unrelated to the modern meaning.

Open 寸 →

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
早
早zǎo草cǎo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

草 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 早, which gives the sound. The form originally referred to another word and was later used for the grass sense.

Open 草 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

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

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Open 生 →

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