无论 (wú lùn) — no matter (what, who, how, etc.); regardless of…

Definition

无论 is the written-form ‘no matter’ conjunction, usually followed by 都/也. 不管 is its everyday spoken equivalent; 不论 is a near-synonym used similarly to 无论.

conjunction

no matter (what, who, how, etc.)regardless of (whether...)

Examples

无论，。
wú lùn Nǐ qù bu qù, wǒ dōu huì děng nǐ.
No matter whether you go or not, I will wait for you.
无论，。
wú lùn Duō máng, tā dōu huì gěi mā ma dǎ diàn huà.
No matter how busy he is, he always calls his mother.
无论，。
wú lùn Shuí wèn, wǒ dōu shuō bù zhī dào.
No matter who asks, I'll say I don't know.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

无wúwithout

论lùnconsider

无 (without) and 论 (consider) together mean without considering which.

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 論; 论 is its simplified writing.

言侖論

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yánsay

Sound part声符shēngfú

侖

侖lún論lùn

Same sound today

The traditional form 論 pairs 言 (“say”) with 侖 as a sound component; the simplified 论 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 论 →