Taxonomy of meanings for 勤:　　

  • 勤 qín (OC: ɡlɯn MC: ɡɨn) 巨斤切 平 廣韻：【勞也盡也巨斤切八 】
    • WORK
        • causative>ENCOURAGE
          • transitive: work for>HELP
              • superior, permanently>SERVE
                • vtoNserve diligently
                • feature>DILIGENT
                  • vadNdiligent
                  • vadVdiligently
                  • viactbe industrious and strenous in one's efforts, make strenuous efforts, be assiduous; be meticulous
                  • vt+prep+Nbe diligent with regard to
            • generalised>EFFORT
              • nabactlaborious effort; putting in hard work
              • vadVwith great effort
              • vt[oN]put in a strenuous effort
              • vtoNexert a diligent effort for
              • vtoNcausativecause to put in strenuous effort
              • vtoNN=actexert properly
              • result>MERIT
                • result>TIRED
                  • vitired out by diligent effort; be stressed; feel strained
                  • vtoNcausativewear out
            • SURNAMES

              Additional information about 勤

              說文解字: 【勤】，勞也。从力、堇聲。 【巨巾切】

                Criteria
              • STOP

                1. The standard current word for ceasing in an activity is zhǐ 止 (ant. xíng 行 "carry on with"), and this word can to any concrete or abstract activity; the ceasing may be final or temporary.

                2. Definitive discontinuation, often of inanimate processes, is yǐ 已 (ant. zuò 作 "break into action"). See FINISH.

                3. Bà 罷 is to deliberately discontinue a course of action one is embarked on, particularly a military action.

                4. Ceasing in a human activity, for a while, is xí 息 and the somewhat rarer xiū 休 (all ant. zuò 作 "break into action").

                5. Jué 絕 (ant. jì 繼 "continue") is to disrupt one's current (human) activity, and fèi 廢 (ant. qín 勤 "continue to make a serioues effort") is to discontinue such an acitivity permanently.

                6. Shě 舍 (often negated) is to relent in a certain activity.

                7. Chuò 輟 (ant.* láo 勞 "put in a continued honest effort") is temporary discontinuation of human action.

                8. Zhì 滯 can be used to refer to the involuntary discontinuation in an activity.

                9. Xiē1 歇 refers to the discontinuation of a process (like that of worrying).

              • EFFORT

                1. The most general word for physical (and sometimes also mental) effort is perhaps miǎn 勉.

                2. Láo 勞 (ant. yì 逸 "failure to put in an effort, relaxed attitude") emphasises the strenuousness and the tiresome nature of effort, and is the most widely used word.

                3. Lì 力 emphasises the strength needed to make a effort.

                4. Wù 務 emphasises the dutifulness of effort. NB: the meaning "strive to" is separate. See STRIVE FOR.

                5. Qín 勤 refers to an honest and strenuous effort.

                6. Yòng xīn 用心 focusses on concentration and the consciousness of an effort.

                7. The common word jìn 盡 is sometimes used to refer to an all-out effort to do something.

              • REST

                1. The current general word for resting is xí 息 (ant. zuò 作 "work").

                2. Xiū 休 (ant. láo 勞 "work hard") refers to brief break in a working process.

                3. Yàn 晏 (ant. qín 勤 "work assiduously") refers to relaxing at home.

                4. Qì 憩 (ant. xīn 辛 "work strenuously until exhaustion") is an elevated poetic word for resting.

                NB: Xiē 歇 is post-Han.

              • TIRED

                1. The general purpose word for communal exhaustion is pì 罷 (ant. zhuàng 壯 "in strong shape"); the general word for the state of exhaustion of an individual is juàn 倦. 不倦 refers to tireless activity, 不饜 refers to tireless receptivity. See DISSATISFIED.

                2. Pí 疲 and bèi 憊 typically refer to a relatively mild state of exhaustion.

                3. Bì 弊 refers to a desperate state of exhaustion.

                4. Láo 勞 refers to the state of exhaustion after extended lasting effort.

                5. Dān 殫 refers not so much to the subjective feeling of exhaustion as to the objective inability to continue an activity for lack of further energy.

                6. Qú 劬, a very poetic word, and the less poetic qín 勤, focus on the effort that brings about tiredness.

                7. Cuì 瘁 is a poetic word referring to weariness.

                8. Qiáo cuì 憔悴 refers to a weariness born of exhaustion.

                9. Láo 老 refers specifically to exhaustion of soldiers.

                10. Yàn 厭 refers specifically to being tired of, and thus fed up with something.

              • DILIGENT

                1. The current word for (typically respectful) meticulous and almost fastidious diligence is jǐn 謹 (ant. màn 慢 "be neglectful").

                2. Shèn 慎 (ant. hū 忽 "be neglectful") "be careful and cautious" emphasises not only careful attention but also wariness of possible danger.

                3. Lì 力 emphasises total devotion of all one's physical and mental effort, and in this meaning the word is normally adverbial.

                4. Qín 勤 (ant. duò 惰 "without proper strenuous and dutiful effort") emphasises dutiful mental effort.

                5. Quàn 勸 focusses on the externally induced enthusiasm with which something is done.

                6. Miǎn 勉 focusses on externally or internally generated extraordinary enthusiasm for a task.

                7. Què 愨 emphasises the moral appropriateness of the diligence in question.

                8. Yuàn 愿 (not to be confused with yuàn 願 "hope") is an elevated rare word referring to respectful diligence of the people.

                9. Jìng 敬 often refers to respectful diligence in action imposed by one's respect rather than to the attitude or the explicit direct show of respect as such.

              • LAZY

                1. The general word for a failure to make any kind of effort required of one is duò 惰 (ant. qín 勤 "eager to work"), and this word describes a general psychological condition of a person.

                2. Dài 怠 (ant. jìng 敬 "be respectfully dedicated to one's duties") refers to a customary failure to perform one's official duties with the appropriate seriousness of effort.

                3. Xiè 懈 (ant. jí 急 "be eager with respect to") refers to a an unwillingness to put in a necessary effort at a certain point of time in spite of the fact that one may not be congenitally or hopelessly prone to laziness.

              • SLOW

                1. The most generally used word for slowness is probably xú 徐 (ant. jí 疾 "fast"), which refers to an indifference on the part of the agent concerning the speed he is making, and the word has no negative connotations, indeed the reference is often to pleasant sauntering slow insouciance.

                2. Huǎn 緩 "slowly, at one's own speed" (ant. jí 急 "fast and urgent") tends to suggest a self-indulgent absence of haste which may call for criticism.

                3. Chí 遲 (ant. sù 速 "quickly and smoothly") focusses on a reprehensible, often inept, but possibly unavoidable, failure to make proper speed or to arrive in time.

                4. Màn 慢 (ant. qǐn 勤 "with polite expediency") is deliberate and deliberately offensive dilatory behaviour; and the word is somewhat marginal in this group.