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无缘 (wú yuán) — (verb) to have no fate or karmic connection with someone or something; (verb/adverb) to have no opportunity or chance (of doing something)

Definition

无缘 (wúyuán) means 'to have no fate / no chance' with someone or something — from Buddhist-style 缘分 (fated connection) to simply missing an opportunity. It often carries a tone of regrettable unlikelihood, not impossibility.

verb
to have no fate or karmic connection with someone or something(verb/adverb) to have no opportunity or chance (of doing something)

Examples

  • ，无缘。
    Tā men suī rán xiāng ài, què wú yuán jié hūn.
    They love each other but are not fated to marry.
  • 无缘，。
    Zhè cì zhāo pìn wǒ yòu wú yuán le, zhēn shì kě xī.
    I didn't get a chance in this recruitment again — what a pity.
  • 无缘，。
    Tā pǎo bù bǐ sài wú yuán guàn jūn, zhǐ dé le dì èr míng.
    He didn't win the championship in the running race, only got second place.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

无wúhave no
缘yuánfate

无 means have no and 缘 means fate, so it says no fate or chance.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 無; 无 is its simplified writing.

For the simplified 无, the story is about 無. 無 drew a person dancing with ox tails held in both hands to pray for rain, then was borrowed for 'have no', so the picture does not explain that meaning.

Open 无 →

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 緣; 缘 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糹Written in full as糸mì
Sound part声符shēngfú
彖
彖tuàn緣⁰yuán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 緣 puts 糸 (silk) beside 彖, which gives the sound; the simplified 缘 is a later abbreviation.

Open 缘 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Abstract ConceptsReligion & Belief

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