断后 (duàn hòu) — to bring up the rear; to act as rear guard; to have no descendants; to be the last generation of a family

Definition

断后 is a verb with two distinct senses: in military/formation contexts it means 'to guard the rear'; in family contexts it means 'to have no descendants, to be the last generation'. The two senses are unrelated — context disambiguates.

verb
to bring up the rearto act as rear guardto have no descendantsto be the last generation of a family

Examples

  • ，断后。
    Wǒ men pái hǎo duì, yóu tā fù zé duàn hòu.
    We formed a line, and he was responsible for bringing up the rear.
  • ，。
    Tā men yì jiā sān dài dān chuán, dào tā jiù duàn le hòu.
    His family had only one child per generation for three generations, and with him the line ended.
  • 断后。
    Lǎo zhāng fēi cháng dān xīn zì jǐ huì duàn hòu.
    Old Zhang is very worried that he will have no descendants.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

断duàncut off
后hòurear

断 means to cut off, and 后 points to the rear or later generations; together they suggest holding the rear or leaving no descendants.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 斷; 断 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 斷 uses 𢇍 (to cut) and 斤 (axe) together.

Open 断 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 後; 后 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 後 showed 夊 (foot) bound by 幺 (thread), a foot caught by a rope and lagging behind; the simplified 后 is a later abbreviation, and 后 also has a different meaning.

Open 后 →

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