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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

搖搖欲墜

/jɑʊ̯³⁵ jɑʊ̯³⁵ y⁵¹⁻⁵³ ʈ͡ʂu̯eɪ̯⁵¹/
tottering; ramshackle; on the brink of collapse
  • 摇摇欲坠
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The phrase describes a state of instability, much like a structure or object swaying on the brink of a fall.
The phrase describes a state of instability, much like a structure or object swaying on the brink of a fall.

Origin

The phrase 搖搖欲墜 is formed from the characters 搖, 欲, and 墜. The character 搖 means to wag, to swing, or to wave. The character 欲 means wish or desire; it contains the semantic component 欠, meaning to lack or be deficient, and the phonetic component 谷, meaning valley, gorge, or ravine.

The character 墜 means to fall down, to drop, to sink, or to go to ruin. It is composed of the semantic component 土, meaning earth or soil, and the phonetic component 隊. The component 隊 consists of the semantic element 阜, meaning mound, and the phonetic element 㒸, meaning a year, age, or the harvest.

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

成語「搖搖欲墜」由「搖」、「欲」與「墜」三個字組成。「搖」字意指搖動、擺動或揮動。「欲」字表示願望或欲望，其字形包含表示缺乏或不足的「欠」字作為語義成分，並以「谷」字作為音符。「墜」字表示落下、掉落、沉沒或走向毀滅，其字形包含「土」字作為語義成分，並以「隊」字作為音符。

在字形結構中，「隊」字包含了表示土丘的「阜」字作為語義成分，並以「㒸」字作為音符。透過這些組成的字彙，構成此詞以描述事物搖晃且即將墜落的狀態。

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

Lineage

  • characterChinese搖 “to wag; to swing; to wave”
  • characterChinese欲 “wish; desire”
    • soundChinese谷 “valley; gorge; ravine”
    • meaningChinese欠 “to lack; to be deficient”
  • characterChinese墜 “to fall down; to drop; to sink; to go to ruin”
    • soundChinese隊 “group; team”
      • meaningChinese阜 “mound”
      • soundChinese㒸 “a year, age, the harvest”
    • meaningChinese土 “earth; soil”
Wiktionary etymology text

No etymology text yet. The graph shows what is known from the sources.

Meanings

phrase
  1. tottering; ramshackle; on the brink of collapse

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 形容形勢或地位不穩。 例：清末民主浪潮洶湧，革命志士四起，致使君主專制政體搖搖欲墜。

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

Sources

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0