Definitions

qióng alone, desolate; without friends or family

Etymology

About

The character 茕, whose traditional form is 煢, etymologically relates to solitary existence and originally denoted a person without siblings or kin. Structurally, the traditional character 煢 incorporates the fire radical 火, while the simplified form 茕 substitutes this with the grass radical 艹 and integrates the component 营. Its meaning shifted from that specific familial context to a more general sense of loneliness or isolation over centuries of usage.

Etymology Hide

Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Cao Wei (Three Kingdoms: 222-280 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Western Jin dynasty (266-316 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern