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维生 (wéi shēng) — to maintain one's livelihood (abbreviation for 维持生活)

Definition

维生 is a short, written abbreviation of 维持生活, used as a noun or verb meaning 'to sustain a livelihood.' It sounds more formal than the everyday phrase 谋生.

noun
to maintain one's livelihood (abbreviation for 维持生活)

Examples

  • ，维生。
    Zài wù jià shàng zhǎng de qíng kuàng xià, xǔ duō rén nán yǐ wéi shēng.
    Under rising prices, many people find it hard to maintain their livelihood.
  • 维生，。
    Zhè fèn shōu rù jǐn néng wéi shēng, wú fǎ chǔ xù.
    This income only barely sustains a living and cannot be saved.
  • 维生，。
    Tā kào zhòng dì wéi shēng, shēng huó hěn jiǎn pǔ.
    He makes a living by farming and lives a very simple life.

Origin

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 維; 维 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìthread
Sound part声符shēngfú
唯
唯wéi維wéi
Same sound today

In the traditional form 維, 糸 marks a thread meaning and 唯 provides the sound; the simplified 维 is a later shortened shape.

Open 维 →

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

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Open 生 →
Appears in
Society & Public Life

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