Definitions

lún (verb) to sink; to decline; to fall into ruin

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

The character "沦", traditionally written as "淪", combines the water radical "氵" with the phonetic component "侖", which originally conveyed a sense of order or sequence and provided the sound "lún". Its earliest recorded meanings referred to subtle water movements, specifically small waves or ripples, but it later developed the sense of sinking or submerging, as evidenced in classical texts using it to describe things being engulfed by water. This concrete notion of descent extended metaphorically to signify decline or fall into a lesser state, such as in the term "沦落" for reduced circumstances, while the simplified form replaced "侖" with "仑", maintaining the phonetic role but modifying the character's structure.

Etymology Hide

Bronze etymology image
Bronze Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)
Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Seal etymology image
Seal Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Cao Wei (Three Kingdoms: 222-280 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

他的故乡陷了。

Tā de gùxiāng lúnxiànle.

His hometown fell into enemy occupation.

那段历史是国土丧的悲剧。

Nà duàn lìshǐ shì guótǔ lúnsàng de bēijù.

That period of history is a tragedy of national territory being lost.

战乱使许多繁华城市为废墟。

Zhànluàn shǐ xǔduō fánhuá chéngshì lúnwèi fèixū.

The war turned many prosperous cities into ruins.

经济危机使国家为难民输出地。

Jīngjì wēijī shǐ guójiā lúnwèi nànmín shūchū dì.

The economic crisis reduced the country to an exporter of refugees.

她不甘心为一个平庸的家庭主妇。

Tā bù gānxīn lúnwéi yīgè píngyōng de jiātíng zhǔfù.

She is unwilling to degenerate into an ordinary housewife.

这个港口曾为他国的殖民地。

Zhège gǎngkǒu céng lúnwèi tā guó de zhímíndì.

This port once fell and became a colony of another country.

精神的贫瘠比物质的匮乏更容易让人落。

Jīngshén de pínjí bǐ wùzhì de kuìfá gèng róngyì ràng rén lúnluò.

Spiritual barrenness is more likely to cause a person to degenerate than material scarcity.

若不坚守道德底线, 人类文明恐将彻底丧。

Ruò bù jiānshǒu dàodé dǐxiàn, rénlèi wénmíng kǒng jiāng chèdǐ lúnsàng.

If moral bottom lines are not upheld, human civilization may completely degenerate.