Taxonomy of meanings for 忽:　　

  • 忽 hū (OC: hmɯɯd MC: huot) 呼骨切 入 廣韻：【倐忽又滅也忘也輕也又十蠶爲一忽十忽爲一絲呼骨切十七 】
    • NEGLECT
      • vi.rednot paying proper attention > be spaced out, be mentally absent
      • vt+prep+Npay no proper attention to 忽於
      • vtoNpassivebe neglected 可忽
      • vtoNreflexive.自be negligent in the care of oneselfCH
      • neglecting the facts, hence> CONFUSED
        • vichangeget confused
        • objective> VAGUE
          • abstract> CHAOS
              • feature> COINCIDENCE
                • padV.postN{SUBJ}as it happened
                • vadSby coincidence (probably there are many places where one mechanically translates this word as "suddenly" where "as it happened" and the like are preferable.)
                • grammaticalisation: if by any chance> IF
                  • padS1.adS2Tang: if, in case, assuming
                • grammaticalised> SUDDENLY
                  • vadVmomentarily, fleetingly; suddenly
                  • vicome on fast, be sudden
                  • sequence> IMMEDIATELY
                    • vadVabruptly without delay; immediately
          • so small that it can be neglected, smallest unit in size> SMALL

          Additional information about 忽

          說文解字: 【忽】，忘也。从心、勿聲。 【呼骨切】

            Criteria
          • NEGLECT

            1. The general word for neglecting something, either by deliberately ignoring it or by a failure to take due care, is hū 忽 (ant. jǐn 謹 "pay careful attention to").

            2. LŸè 略 is a deliberate act of neglecting something one has a duty to pay attention to.

            3. Màn 慢 (ant. jìng 敬 "pay proper and respectful attention to") and jiǎn 簡 (ant. xì 細 "pay detailed attention to") refer to a typically deliberate and defiant, often a deliberately outrageous, failure to pay proper attention to what is expected to be heeded.

            4. Shū 疏 (ant. yán 嚴 "pay strict attention to") refers to inadvertent nonchalant neglectfulness.

            NB: Yí 遺 "leave out" and shì 釋 "leave aside for the time being" refer to a deliberate but possibly defensible failure to take note of something, and these words are thus naturally treated in this meaning under the heading DISREGARD.

          • THINK

            1. The most current general word for thought or reflection of any kind is perhaps sī 思 (ant. hū 忽 "fail to pay detailed attention to"), but this word tends to refer specifically to reflection.

            2. Huái 懷 (ant. wàng 忘 "forget all about") refers to emotionally loaded thinking about a absent person or an important subject.

            3. Móu 謀 refers to any act of planning by a private or public personality.

            4. Tú 圖 refer to deliberative strategic thinking about the future by a person in authority to decide on a future course of action.

            5. Xiǎng 想 is occasionally used to refer to fond thinking about absent persons, and in later times the word comes to refer to unrealistic imaginings in thought, and wàng xiǎng 妄想 "wild imaginings" is a symptomatic current phrase..

            6. Niàn 念 refers to intense intellectual effort and strenuous attention, and zhèng niàn 正念 refers to correct intellectual efforts in Buddhist Chinese.

            7. Zhēn zhuó 斟酌 refers to careful deliberation on the truth of a proposition or the moral quality of something.

            8. Jì 計 refers to subjecting something to rational often quantified consideration and judgment.

            9. Gù 顧 is inchoative and refers to the turning of one's attention to something one has not focussed on before.

            10. Lu �慮 refers to thoughtful long-term strategic (often personal) planning.

          • SUDDENLY

            1. The most common word for suddenness is hū 忽.

            2. Tū 突 and zhà4 乍 "out of the blue" refer to the unforeseen onset of something one has imagined was likely or even possible.

            3. Cù 卒 / 猝 refers to the sudden onset of something before it was expected to occur.

            4. E@ 俄 and é ér 俄而 refer to the abrupt occurrence of an event of strikingly short duration.

            5. Bó 勃 is typically limited in application to the suddenness of the initial emergence of a phenomenon.

          • 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.

          • CAUTIOUS

            1. The dominant general word referring to wariness and circumspect action is shèn 慎 (ant. hū 忽 "slipshod").

            2. Jǐng 警 (ant. shū 疏 "fail to take seriously") emphasises awareness of danger.

            3. Jiè 戒 (ant. lŸè 略 "fail to take heed") emphasises awareness of previous warnings.

            4. Bì 毖 (ant. chéng 懲 "take one's warning from, take (a matter of a past) as a warning") is an archaic word for being on one's guard.

            Word relations
          • Assoc: (NEGLECT)恬/PEACEFUL Tián 恬 and dàn 淡 (all ant. dòng dàng 動蕩 "be all over the place) refer to serenity in an individual as cultivated, notoriously, by the Taoists.