Taxonomy of meanings for 恩:　　

  • 恩 ēn (OC: qɯɯn MC: ʔən) 烏痕切 平 廣韻：【恩澤也惠也愛也隱也亦姓前燕慕容皝東庠祭酒恩茂風俗通云陳大夫成仲不恩之後烏痕切三 】
    • GENEROUS
      • nabacta significant generous action by a benefactor 恩不甚
      • nabdispositiongenerous loving concern;gracious generosity by superiors, primarily as an attitude, but occasionally also as manifested in action: generous gratuitous favours; emotional good-will, emotional ties; Hanfei: gratuitous kindness
      • nab[.post-N]actone's generosity in actionCH
      • VPt+V[0]be generous enough to V
    • LOVE
      • nabpsychgenerous love> love construed as emotional generosity

    Additional information about 恩

    說文解字: 【恩】，惠也。从心、因聲。 【烏痕切】

      Criteria
    • GENEROUS

      1. Probably the most general word for generosity is huì 惠 (ant. sè 嗇 "stingy, ungenerous"), and this refers to any kind of emotional as well as material munificence by a person of superior status.

      2. Hòu 厚 (ant. báo 薄 "less than ample") refers to generosity of treatment which is not necessarily directed towards inferiors.

      3. Shī 施 focuses on the very activity involved in generous treatment of others, and the subject of this activitiy is normally a person of superior status.

      4. E!n 恩 (ant. chóu 仇 "hostile attitude") refers primarily to an attitude or disposition (typically on the part of a person of superior status) to be generous.

      5. Dé 德 and the rarer zé 澤 refer to graceful and spiritually inspiring munificence, typically from a person of supremely high status.

      6. Kuān 寬 and the rarer guǎng 廣 can refer to a general disposition towards non-narrow and broadly directed generosity.

      7. Zhān 霑 refers to receiving the benefits of generosity and is thus marginal in this group, and the word is rare.

      NB: Kāng kǎi 慷慨 refers to generousity with one's resources, but the usage is first attested in Ming novels.

      Word relations
    • Contrast: (GENEROUS)德 / 得/GENEROUS Dé 德 and the rarer zé 澤 refer to graceful and spiritually inspiring munificence, typically from a person of supremely high status.
    • Contrast: (GENEROUS)惠/GENEROUS Probably the most general word for generosity is huì 惠 (ant. sè 嗇 "stingy, ungenerous"), and this refers to any kind of emotional as well as material munificence by a person of superior status.
    • Contrast: (LOVE)愛/LOVE The clearly dominant word referring to love is ài 愛 (ant. hèn 恨 "dislike"; rarely zēng 憎 "dislike"; and wù 惡 "hate"), and this word refers both to the feelings of love and to the expression of love in loving care for another person as well as in sexual relations. (Occasionally, the word may refer to the emotional preference that a small child feels for its parents. For this meaning see PREFER.)
    • Assoc: (LOVE)寵/LOVE Chǒng 寵 refers to enjoying the affections of a superior.
    • Assoc: (GENEROUS)澤/GENEROUS Dé 德 and the rarer zé 澤 refer to graceful and spiritually inspiring munificence, typically from a person of supremely high status.