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小鳥依人. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
小鳥依人, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
小鳥依人 in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
小鳥依人 you have here. The definition of the word
小鳥依人 will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
小鳥依人, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Chinese
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small bird; little bird; birdie
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according to; depend on; near to according to; depend on; near to; (Eastern Min) kinship prefix |
man; person; people
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| trad. (小鳥依人)
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小鳥
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依
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人
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| simp. (小鸟依人)
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小鸟
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依
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人
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| Literally: “(as cute and helpless as) a little bird that must rely on a human in order to survive”.
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Etymology
Originally a gloss for the character 雀 (OC *ʔsewɢ) in the historical dictionary Shuowen (2nd century):
Pronunciation
Idiom
小鳥依人
- the appearance of a woman or a child who is dependant upon others, and is also dainty and cute