比邻 (bǐ lín) — neighbor; nearby place, vicinity

Definition

Literary word for 'neighbor / next to' — used in writing and set phrases, not daily speech. Pairs with 居 (比邻而居 'live next to each other').

noun
neighbornearby placevicinity

Examples

  • ，比邻。
    Hǎi nèi cún zhī jǐ, tiān yá ruò bǐ lín.
    Within the four seas there are bosom friends; even at the ends of the earth we are as close as neighbors.
  • 比邻，。
    Tā men liǎng jiā bǐ lín ér jū, guān xì hěn hǎo.
    The two families live next to each other and get along very well.
  • 比邻，。
    Zhè liǎng gè chéng shì shì bǐ lín, wǎng lái shí fēn fāng biàn.
    These two cities are neighbors, so travel between them is very convenient.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

比bǐadjacent
邻línneighbor

比 conveys adjacency, and 邻 means neighbor, so it names a neighboring place or person.

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.

  • 匕匕bǐ
  • 匕匕bǐ

比 is two 匕 placed side by side. Chu Wan-li treats both as sound parts, while an old reading takes the side-by-side arrangement as putting things next to each other.

Open 比 →

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 鄰; 邻 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阝Written in full as邑yì
Sound part声符shēngfú
粦
粦lín鄰lín
Same sound today

The traditional form 鄰 pairs 粦 (lín) as the sound part with 阝 (the full form 邑, a settlement) as the meaning part; 邻 is a simplified shorthand.

Open 邻 →

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