Taxonomy of meanings for 慈:　　

  • 慈 cí (OC: dzɯ MC: dzɨ) 疾之切 平 廣韻：【愛也亦州名春秋時晉之屈邑夷吾所居西魏改爲汾州開皇初爲耿州武德改爲慈州因慈氏縣名之疾之切五 】
    • LOVE
      • nabactacts of kindness and love
      • nabdispositionloving fondness, loving care, loving kindness
      • vadNnon-restrictiveloving, caring 慈母, benevolent, kin
      • vadVlovingly, in a caring way
      • vt[oN]show loving kindness in action
      • vt[oN]stativebe loving (of disposition or behaviour); be soft-hearted
      • vt+prep+Nshow genuine deep concern for
      • vtoNshow loving parental or parental-style care for
      • vibe loving, be caring; be genteel, be empatheticCH
    • MOTHER
      • CARE FOR
        • GENEROUS
          • REGIONS
            • SURNAMES
              • = 磁

              Additional information about 慈

              說文解字: 【慈】， 〔小徐本篆文作「【】」。〕 愛也。从心、玆聲。 〔小徐本「玆」作「茲」。〕 【疾之切】

                Criteria
              • LOVE

                1. 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.)

                2. Cí 慈 (ant. xiōng 凶 "vicious") refers to loving care, prototypically by mothers for minors or their offspring. When the word refers to ordinary love, it always connotes a high degree of intensity of the caring emotion.

                3. Tì 悌 refers to love between brothers, particularly the love one owes one's eldest brother, and the word is rarely extended to mean brotherly as opposed to erotic or commiserating love.

                4. Xiào 孝 refers to loving respect for one's parents and ancestors in attitude and action, and is a major traditional virtue.

                5. Chǒng 寵 refers to enjoying the attentions and/or affections of a superior.

                6. Xìng 幸 "give sexual favours to (a subject)" and xìng yú 幸於 "enjoy the sexual favours of (a ruler) refer to love sexually expressed.

                7. Bì 嬖 refers to the enjoying of favourite status with a superior, and the term often connotes sexual relations, occasionally even of the homosexual kind.

                8. Mù 慕 prototypically refers to loving devotion of a distant kind, but the word is also used in a more generalised way to refer to affection.

                9. Hào 好 refers to love as a matter of a strong and habitual emotional preference for something. (See PREFER)

              • 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

              • METAL

                1. Jīn 金 in antiquity usually refers to metal, concretely to bronze or copper.

                2. Shuǐ yín 水銀 refers to mercury.

                3. Cí shí 慈石 refers to a magnet.

                4. Yè 鍱 also refers to an ore.

                5. Xiǎn 銑 refers to any shiny metal.

                6. Gāng 鋼 refers to steel.

                7. Xī 錫 refers to tin.

                8. 鏤 is another term for a steel.

                9. Zhù 鉒 refers to an ore.

              • 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]]

              • OPPRESS

                1. The most common general word for oppression is probably nŸè 虐 (ant. cí 慈 "show loving care for").

                2. Bào 暴 (ant. fǔ 撫 "care well for") emphasises the aspect of violence.

                3. Líng 陵 (ant. yù 育 "take loving care of", and the rare jí 藉, and chéng 乘 emphasise the abuse of supremacy of social or political position.

                Word relations
              • Conv: (LOVE)孝/LOVE Xiào 孝 refers to loving respect for one's parents and ancestors in attitude and action and is a major traditional virtue.
              • Ant: (LOVE)勇/COURAGE The standard general word for courage is yǒng 勇 (ant. nuò 懦 "pusillanimousness, chicken-liveredness"), which refers to positive boldness evinced in the face of danger or risk. Cf. fortitudo
              • Ant: (LOVE)害/DAMAGE By far the commonest general word for damage is hài 害 (ant. lì 利"benefit").
              • Epithet: (LOVE)父/FATHER The completely dominant word is fù 父
              • Epithet: (LOVE)父母/PARENT Fù mǔ 父母 refers to parents.
              • Epithet: (LOVE)母/MOTHER
              • Assoc: (LOVE)孝/LOVE Xiào 孝 refers to loving respect for one's parents and ancestors in attitude and action and is a major traditional virtue.
              • Assoc: (LOVE)孝/LOVE Xiào 孝 refers to loving respect for one's parents and ancestors in attitude and action and is a major traditional virtue.
              • Assoc: (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)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]