Taxonomy of meanings for 渺:　　

  • 渺 miǎo (OC: mewʔ MC: miɛu) 亡沼切 上 廣韻：【渺㵿水皃 】

    Additional information about 渺

    說文解字:

      Criteria
    • SMALL

      1. The dominant quite general word is xiǎo 小 (ant. dà 大 "big"), and this word refers to both physical size and abstract importance.

      2. Miǎo 眇 / 渺 and mǐ 靡 (ant. páng 龐 "big") refers to extremely small size of something.

      3. Xì 細 (ant. jù 巨 "enormous") is sometimes used to refer to something being small or of slight importance. See TENUOUS

      NB: ǎi 矮 "not tall, of slight height, of low build" is post-Buddhist late colloquial.

    • GREAT

      1. The most general word for awe-inspiring greatness and significance is wěi 偉 (ant. 眇 / 渺 "trifling").

      2. Dà 大 (ant. xiǎo 小 "insignificant") is often used to refer to generally recognised awe-inspiring status (for example of a king etc) rather than mere size.

      3. Hóng 弘 and jù 巨 (ant. xì 細 ) are stylistically marked strong words to use for the greatness of something. See IMPORTANT

      4. Hóng 鴻 refers to greatness as essentially linked to immense size.

      5 Kǒng 孔 is an archaic word referring to immensity, numerousness as well as remarkable intensity of something.