Taxonomy of meanings for 忍:　　

  • 忍 rěn (OC: njinʔ MC: ȵin) 而軫切 上 廣韻：【強也有所含忍而軫切三 】
    • ENDURE
      • nabpsychthe virtue of endurance
      • vt(+V[0])be able to bear the contextually determinate situation V
      • vt(oN)endure the contextually determinate act or situation
      • vt[oN]be patient; be able to put up with things
      • vt[oN]psychbe able to bear injustice
      • vt+prep+Nbe unable to bear N
      • vt+V[0]bear to V, endure V-ing
      • vtoNN=own sufferingbe able to endure or sustain (pain, adversity, unpleasant things or people); put up with 
      • vtoNcausativecause to become callous
      • vtoNcausativecause (oneself) to endure> steel oneself
      • vtoNpassivebe borne with; be tolerated
      • vtoNPab{S}e.g. 不忍其然 "could not bear tht this was so": bear with the fact, that
      • vtoV[0]V=passivebe able to bear being V-edCH
      • vtt(+V[0])+NN=timebear a contextually determinate situation for N timeDS
      • vtoNN=misfortune of othersbe able to tolerate; be willing to bear with; be able to bear withCH
      • TOLERANCE
        • nabpsychtolerance and endurance; forbearance
        • vibe tolerant; show forbearance
        • vtoNshow tolerance towards
        • tolerate as a plan>WISH
          • of the intolerable>CRUEL
            • nsubject=humanthose who are callous
            • vadNpitiless, callous, insensitive
            • vibe insensitive, hard-hearted, callous 殘忍。 漢 賈誼 《新書·道術》："惻隱憐人謂之慈，反慈為忍。"
            • vt(oN)be callous enough to put up or bear with a contextually determinate situation
            • vt+V[0]be callous or hard-hearted enough to be able to (live with cruelty by others); be able to bear with cruel behaviour (on one's own part); NB: THE TWO IDENTICAL LEXEMES MUST BE CONFLATED
            • vtoNbe callous and unfeeling with respect to
            • vtoNattitudinaltreat heartlessly; be callous towards
            • vtoNcausativecause to become callous
            • insensitive domination>CONTROL
              • vtoNcontrol, repress
      • =韌
      • =認
    • 忍 ｒｅｎ４《集韻》而振切，去震日。
      • =肕

      Additional information about 忍

      說文解字: 【忍】，能也。从心、刃聲。 【而軫切】

        Criteria
      • SEVERE

        1. The current general commendatory term for severeness is yán 嚴 (ant. kuān 寬 "lax").

        2. Zhuāng 莊 (ant. qīng 輕 "unserious") and the somewhat less common jīn 矜 add to the notion of a mild form of severeness the nuance of dignified appearance.

        3. Sù 肅 (ant. zī 恣 "easy-going") emphasises sternness of attitude.

        4. Lì 厲 (wēn 溫 "mild") emphasises a willingness to use violence in the administration of government without passing a strong negative or positive judgment on this attitude.

        5. Kè 刻 (ant. hé 和 "moderate") refers disparagingly to an excessive willingness to use violence in the administration of government.

        6. Zhòng 重 (ant. qīng 輕 "unserious") refers abstractly to the severeness of punishments.

        7. Jù4n 峻 (ant. píng 平 "even-handed") refers dramatically to the savageness of punishments.

        8. Kē 苛 and kù 酷 (ant.* rén 仁 "kind-hearted" and bù rěn 不忍 "be unable to stand") refer to flagrant extravagance in the severeness of punishments.

      • SYMPATHY

        1. The standard word for sympathy and commiseration in psychological attitude as well as in action is xù 恤 / 卹 (ant. rěn 忍 "heartless").

        2. Mǐn 閔／憫 (ant. cán 殘 "cruel and heartless") is a purely psychological word referring to feelings of deep concern and sympathy, often coupled with sadness and a desire to act to improve things. See also SADNESS

        3. Jīn 矜 expresses, apparently, a somewhat higher intensity in the purely psychological feelings of sympathy.

        4. Āi 哀 refers to passive concern for what one unfortunately can do little about.

        5. Lián 憐 refers to sympathy as loving warm concern and a wish to show this loving concern in action.

      • ENDURE

        1. The general word is kān 堪 which refers to the ability to sustain negative experiences as well as to undertake demanding and/or dangerous tasks, and the word is especially frequent in negated form 不堪 "cannot endure; cannot manage to".

        2. Rěn 忍 refers to any callous ability to bear with something that is objectionable without interfering to stop it.

        3. Zhī 支 is occasionally used in the sense of "endure" and emphasises the strength needed to live with what one bears with.

        4. Rén 任 is not limited to putting up with undesirable conditions, it focusses on the the general ability to live gracefully burdens one is having to bear.

        5. Néng 能 is occasionally used as an ordinary transitive verb meaning "be able to put up with (climatic conditions and the like)".

      • CRUEL

        1. The current general word for psychological cruelty is rěn 忍 (ant. cí 慈 "show kind loving concern"), and the current general word for cruelty in action is cán 殘 (ant. rén 仁 "kind-heartedness").

        2. NŸè 虐 (ant. fǔ 撫 "take good care of, show proper concern for subordinates or subjects") refers to wanton cruelty in the exercise of political authority.

        3. Lì 戾 typically refers to deliberate cruelty for its own sake, typically by those in political authority, viewed as a political mistake. See SEVERE

        4. Bào 暴 refers to a propensity towards public violence by those in authority, viewed as a character defect. See VIOLENT

      • BENEVOLENCE

        [ABSOLUTE/GRADED]

        [[CURRENT/RARE]]

        [ELEVATED/FAMILIAR]

        [ETHICAL/FACTUAL]

        [EMOTIONAL/UNEMOTIONAL]

        [HIGH-DEGREE/LOW-DEGREE]

        [PRACTICAL/PSYCHOLOGICAL]

        1. Rén 仁 (ant. cán 殘 "cruel" and perhaps ant.* rěn 忍 "be callous, unfeeling") which refers to kind-heartedness and deep human sensibility as a constitutive feature of man as a moral being, is the standard word since Confucius.

        [ETHICAL], [HIGH-DEGREE]

        2. Cí 慈 (ant. rěn 忍 "callous, unfeeling") is primarily the intimate emotional concern of mothers/parents for their children, and by extension such concern of a fatherly ruler for his people. (See LOVE)

        [EMOTIONAL], [PRACTICAL]

        3. Xiào 孝 refers to caring love for one's parents and one's ancestors. SEE LOVE.

        4. Huì 惠 "kind generosity" (ant. sè 嗇 "stinginess") is kind-heartedness in generous action of various kinds and displayed towards inferiors. See GENEROUS

        [PRACTICAL]

        5. Shàn 善 "goodness in action" (ant. è 惡 "wicked") belongs more properly into the group GOOD, but the word does come to refer to altruistic moral concern for others and thus relates to the present group.

        [ETHICAL], [GRADED], [MARGINAL]; [[RARE]]

        6. Mín 旻 refers in a ritual elevated manner to the beneficence and compassion of Heaven and of the sky (in CC).

        [ARCHAIC], [ELEVATED], [HIGH-DEGREE]; [[RARE]]

        Word relations
      • Ant: (CRUEL)仁/BENEVOLENCE Rén 仁 (ant. cán 殘 "cruel" and perhaps ant.* rěn 忍 "be callous, unfeeling") which refers to kind-heartedness and deep human sensibility as a constitutive feature of man as a moral being, is the standard word since Confucius. [ETHICAL], [HIGH-DEGREE]
      • Ant: (CRUEL)憐/SYMPATHY Lián 憐 refers to sympathy as loving warm concern and a wish to show this loving concern in action.