无量 (wú liàng) — immeasurable; boundless

Definition

Literary word for 'immeasurable, boundless' (compassion, space, vow). Almost always appears in set phrases like 无量寿, not used in everyday speech.

verb
immeasurableboundless

Examples

  • ，无量。
    Fó shuō, cí bēi shì wú liàng de.
    The Buddha said that compassion is measureless.
  • 无量。
    Zhè ge yǔ zhòu wú liàng wú jì.
    This universe is immeasurable and boundless.
  • 无量。
    Tā fā xià le wú liàng de shì yuàn.
    He made a vow of immeasurable scope.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

无wúnot have
量liángmeasure

无 means not have, and 量 means measure, so 无量 describes something beyond measure.

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 →

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

  • 日日rìsun
  • 東東dōngbag; east

量 has 日 (sun) over 東 (bag; east). Some explanations suggest measuring under the sun or the sun rising in the east, but the exact origin is unclear.

Open 量 →

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