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擅自 (shàn zì) — without permission; without authorization; arbitrarily

Definition

擅自 (shànzì) means doing something 'without authorization' — it implies overstepping one's authority. Stronger than 私自 (which just means 'in private / secretly') and more formal than 任意 ('at one's own will').

adverb
without permissionwithout authorizationarbitrarily

Examples

  • 擅自，。
    Tā shàn zì lí kāi le gōng sī, méi yǒu gào sù rèn hé rén.
    He left the company without permission and didn't tell anyone.
  • 擅自，。
    Qǐng bú yào shàn zì zuò rèn hé jué dìng, xiān gēn tuán duì tǎo lùn.
    Please don't make any decisions arbitrarily; discuss with the team first.
  • 擅自，。
    Tā shàn zì xiū gǎi le wén jiàn, dǎo zhì xiàng mù chū xiàn wèn tí.
    He modified the document without authorization, causing problems for the project.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

擅shànact without permission
自zìoneself

擅 (act without permission) and 自 (oneself) combine to mean doing something on one's own authority.

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
手手shǒuhands
Sound part声符shēngfú
亶
亶dǎn擅shàn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

擅 combines 手 (hands) with 亶, which gives the sound.

Open 擅 →

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

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

自 originally drew a nose. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write 自, so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

Open 自 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Abstract Concepts

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