() — (bound form) solitary, isolated, alone; (bound form) orphaned, orphan; (historical) I, my (used by emperors and princes in self-reference)

Definition

孤 (gū) is a bound literary morph meaning 'solitary/orphaned' — it almost never stands alone. It combines with 独 (孤独, 'lonely') and 儿 (孤儿, 'orphan'); emperors used 孤家 in formal self-reference.

bound form
(bound form) solitaryisolatedalone(bound form) orphanedorphan(historical) Imy (used by emperors and princes in self-reference)

Examples

  • Tā gǎn dào fēi cháng gū dú.
    He feels very lonely.
  • Tā cóng xiǎo jiù chéng le gū ér, méi yǒu fù mǔ.
    He became an orphan from a young age and has no parents.
  • Zài gǔ dài, huáng dì zì chēng gū jiā.
    In ancient times, the emperor called himself 'the solitary one'.

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