Taxonomy of meanings for 優:　　

Additional information about 優

說文解字: 【優】，饒也。从人、憂聲。一曰：倡也。 〔小徐本作「一曰：倡也。又：俳優者。从人、憂聲。」〕 【於求切】

Criteria
• ENTERTAINER
  

  1. The most current general word for an entertainer is jì 妓, and this word refers to any entertainer including artists, dancers, and clowns of any kind.

  2. Chàng 倡 refers occasionally to an entertainer specialised in singing, especially the main singer.

  3. Lìng 伶 refers specifically to a musician-entertainer who accompanies the main singers chàng 倡.

  4. Yōu 優 and yōu rén 優人 refers to dwarf-clowns who perform through comic talk, comic action and slapstick comedy.

  5. Pái 俳 and more often pái yōu 俳優 refer to a superior specialist in comic talk.

  6. Zhū rú 侏儒 is a general word for a dwarf, and since the dwarf at court typically acted as a clown, the term came also to refer generally to clowns.

  <div>7. Nu# yuè 女樂 is a standard general term for female musical entertainers or female musicians.</div><div><br></div><div>A splendid comparative overview is found in Beatrice K. Otto, Fools are Everywhere. The Court Jester Around the World, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2001<br></div><br>

• ORDINARY
  

  1. The current general word for "ordinary" is fán 凡 (ant. qí 奇 "remarkable").

  2. Zhōng 中 (ant. yōu 優 "excellent") refers specifically to mediocrity.

  3. Yōng 庸 (ant. tè 特 "of special distinction") refers to what is regularly met and not unexpected, and the word focusses on that this does not distinguish itself through any positive features.

  4. Sǎn 散 (ant. jīng 精 "exquisite") refers to what can make no claim for special attention.

  5. Shù 庶 (ant. zhēn 珍 "extraordinarily precious") refers to kinds of persons that there are very many of.

  6. Cū 粗 (ant. jīng 精 "exquisitely civilised") refers to ordinariness as absence of cultural polish.

  7. Xì 細 (ant. kuí 魁 "great, towering") refers to ordinariness as absence of real power or significance.

  8. Wēi 微 (ant. jù 巨 "great") refers to relative slightness or insignificance without negative overtones.

• EXCELLENT
  

  1. The standard current general word for anything or anyone who naturally meets certain generally accepted high standards of excellence is liáng 良 (ant. liè 劣 "inferior").

  2. Shàn 善 (ant. zhuó 拙 "inept"), when the word does not mean moral goodness, but is close in meaning to liáng 良, refers to an acquired specific skill or propensity for certain forms of action.

  3. Jīng 精 (of general application) (ant. cū 粗 "of only rough quality") and ruì 銳 (typically applied to military prowess) (ant. dùn 鈍 "of lesser quality") refer to above-average performance without suggestion individual excellence.

  4. Yōu 優 (ant. liè 劣 "inferior") and cháng 長 (ant. duǎn 短 "of lesser quality") refers to a distinct advantage in excellence compared with some reference group or some point of reference.

  5. Gōng 工 (ant. yú 寙 "fumbling, inept") is to be specialised in something concrete or even professional in an area, typically a craft.

  6. Jiā 佳 (ant. xià 下 "inferior in quality") implies manifestly recognised striking excellence regarding such qualities such as beauty or moral cultivation.

  7. Měi 美 (ant. è 惡 "of bad quality") when it does not have its standard meaning "beauty" indicates striking or admirable high quality of anything concrete or abstract.

  8. Jiā 嘉 (ant. yōng 庸 "mediocre") refers to manifestly recognised striking excellence, typically of an abstract kind.

  9. Zhǐ 旨 (ant. báo 薄 "of slight quality") refers specifically to excellence in the quality of wine, and sometimes to other foodstuffs.

  10. Jùn 駿 (ant. nú 駑 "miserable hag") refers specifically to excellence in horses, and by extension occasionally serves as metaphoric for outstanding personalities.

• BAD
  

  [ABSOLUTE/GRADED]

  [[COMMON/RARE]]

  [ELEVATED/INFORMAL]

  [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

  [HIGH-DEGREE/LOW-DEGREE]

  1. The most general word for what is inferior and not commendable, morally, aesthetically or otherwise, is è 惡 (ant. měi 美 "commendable"), but this word is also used to refer more specifically to wickedness. See WICKED

  [GENERAL]

  2. Xià 下 (ant. shàng 上 "superior") is a colourless general way of referring to something being inferior to something else (which may or may not be specified) in any sense.

  [GRADED]

  3. Liè 劣 (ant. yōu 優 "of higher quality") refers quite generally to inferior quality, but the word is not very frequent in pre-Buddhist Chinese.

  [HIGH-DEGREE]; [[RARE]]

  4. Nú 駑 and the rarer tái 駘 (all ant. jùn 駿 "superior horse") refer specifically to inferior horses, and in a rather pictoresque metaphorical way these terms are sometimes used to refer to men of inferior quality.

  [ELEVATED], [SUBJ=HUMAN]; [[RARE]]

• ABUNDANT
  

  ABSTRACT/CONCRETE

  ARTIFICIAL/NATURAL

  HIGH-DEGREE/LOW-DEGREE

  SPECIALISED/UNSPECIFIC

  1. The general word for abundance of any kind, man-made or natural, concrete or abstract, is shèng 盛 (ant.*xī 稀 "sparse").

  [GENERAL]

  2. Fēng 豐 (ant.*qiàn 歉 "poor natural harvest") refers primarily to the natural abundance of some feature or resource, but in elevated archaic discourse the word may also refer to abundance of sacrifice and the like. NB: The rare fēng 丰 was not homophonous in ancient times, and the meaning emphasises beauty as well as abundance.

  [NATURAL!]

  3. Hòu 厚 (ant. báo 薄 "meagerly supplied with something") primarily refers to man-made or man-caused generous abundance, prototypically in contexts such as hospitality or exchange of presents.

  [ARTIFICIAL]

  4. Yōu 優 (ant.* liè 劣 "in short supply") refers to special (often commendable) abundance.

  [HIGH DEGREE], [ABSTRACT!]

  5. Ráng 穰 often refers specifically to abundance of harvest. See HARVEST.

  [NATURAL], [SPECIFIC]

  5. Pèi rán 沛然 typically refers to the abundance of a flow of things, prototypically rain.

  7. Yáng 洋 typically refers specifically to abundance of water over a wide area, but the word is occasionally used in transferred senses to refer to wide-spread abundance. The image of water remains distantly present.

  [NATURAL], [SPECIFIC]

  8. Wò 渥 (ant. báo 薄 "not very abundant, poorly supplied with liquid or vital energy etc.") typically refers to an abundance of liquids or gases.

  [NATURAL], SPECIFIC]

  9. Duō 多 is the general word for a large number or a large amount of things. See MANY

• PERFECT
  

  1. The current general word for ultimate perfection is zhì 至 (ant.* liè 劣 "very inferior").

  2. Jí 極 refers to the attainment of an ultimate point or an ultimate stage.

  3. Jué 絕 focusses on the comparative aspect of excelling all others.

  4. Yōu 優 (ant. liè 劣 "very inferior") focusses on the comparative aspect of excelling most others.

  5. Quán 全 (ant. cán 殘 "seriously deficient") focusses on the complete presence of some conditions of excellence.

Word relations
• Ant: (EXCELLENT)劣/BAD Liè 劣 (ant. yōu 優 "of higher quality") refers quite generally to inferior quality, but the word is not very frequent in pre-Buddhist Chinese. [HIGH-DEGREE]; [[RARE]] 1 Attribution