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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

為時已晚

/weɪ̯³⁵ ʂɻ̩³⁵ i²¹⁴⁻³⁵ wän²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
already too late
  • 爲時已晚
  • 为时已晚
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The setting sun and lengthening shadows represent the transition into evening, signifying that the time for action has passed.
The setting sun and lengthening shadows represent the transition into evening, signifying that the time for action has passed.

Origin

The phrase 為時已晚 is composed of four characters. The character 為, a simplified form of 爲, means to do, to accomplish, or to take action; it contains the components 又 (again; once more) and 象 (elephant).

時 means season, formed with the semantic component 日 (sun) and the phonetic component 之 (to go). The character 之 is composed of 止 (foot) and 一 (one). 晚 means evening or night, consisting of the semantic component 日 (sun) and the phonetic component 免 (to take off; to remove from the body). Finally, 已 means to stop or to finish.

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

「為時已晚」是由四個漢字組成的詞組。其中「為」意指去做、成就或採取行動，它是「爲」的簡化形式，字形包含「又」與「象」兩個組成部分。 「時」的意思是季節，由表示意義的「日」與表示聲音的「之」組成，而「之」字則包含「止」與「一」。

「已」字代表停止或結束。而「晚」字則指傍晚或夜晚，由表示意義的「日」與表示聲音的「免」組成。整個詞組結合了這些字義，用來描述時間上的延誤。

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

Lineage

  • characterChinese為 “to do; to accomplish; to take action”
    • simplified fromChinese爲
    • ideaChinese又 “again; once more”
    • ideaChinese象 “elephant (Classifier: 頭／头 m; 隻／只 m c mn)”
  • characterChinese時 “season”
    • meaningChinese日 “Sun”
    • soundChinese之 “to go”
      • ideaChinese止 “foot”
      • ideaChinese一 “one”
  • characterChinese已 “to stop; to finish”
  • characterChinese晚 “evening; night”
    • soundChinese免 “to take off; to remove from the body”
Wiktionary etymology text

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

Meanings

phrase
  1. already too late

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 從時效上來看已經來不及了。 例：他雖有悔悟之心，無奈為時已晚，無可補救。

© 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