Taxonomy of meanings for 畏:　　

  • 畏 wèi (OC: quls MC: ʔʷɨi) 於胃切 去 廣韻：【畏懼 】
    • FEAR
      • nobjectobjects of fear, things one fears; fears
      • vibe in a state of fear; be under threat which would normally inspire fear; be in fearful trouble
      • vichangeget into fearful trouble
      • vt(oN)stand in fear and awe of the determinate person/thing; grow fearful of
      • vt+prep+Nbe frightened of; stand in fearful awe of
      • vt+V[0]be terrified to V; be afraid that one might V
      • vtoNwithout respectbe afraid of
      • vtoNcontinuousstand in fear of; fear, be very much afraid of and at the same time in awe of
      • vtoNpassivebe held in fear and awe
      • vtoNPab{S}to be terrified by the fact, that
      • vtoSstativefear that S
      • nabpsychfearfulness
      • vt+V[0]passivefear to be V-ed
      • vtoNfear (something non-human without standing in awe of it, like death)CH
      • vt[oN]be fearful of othersCH
      • vadVwith fear; out of fearLZ
      • while acknowleding authority> RESPECT
        • vadVwith respectful fear
        • vibe awe-struck; stand in awe
        • vt[oN]stand in awe of those in authority
        • vt+prep+Nfeel respect for
        • vtoNpassivebe respected, be held in awe
        • vtoNputativeHS, Dongfang Shuo: admire as outstanding, stand in awe of
        • vtoNstative畏天之威"fear the authority of Heaven": cognate with wēi 威 "authority"] fear and revere; stand in fearful awe of 
        • vt(oN)stand in awe of a personLZ
        • nabpsychrespect, respect mixed with fearLZ
      • and thus> RESENT
        • causative> FRIGHTEN
          • vi+HU1intensitivebe designed to strike fear into people; be awe-inspiring
          • vtoNcausativecause to fear> overawe, strike respectful fear into;
          • what frightens> DANGER
              • typical psychological response> WORRY
                  • preferred reaction> AVOID
          • 畏wēi《集韻》烏回切，平灰影。微部。
            • 畏wěi《集韻》羽鬼切，上尾云。

                Additional information about 畏

                說文解字:

                  Criteria
                • HOPE

                  1. The general word for a hope (rather than a wish) yuàn 願 (ant. kǒng 恐 "be very much afraid that"), but the word is rather formal and often tends to express a hope regarding what someone else (typically of higher status) might do. 2. Yù 欲 (ant. kǒng 恐？ “be terrified by the thought of", is very commonly used as a general word for an emotionally intense hope that is currently entertained. (The cases where the word clearly invites translation as "hope" and cannot be rendered as "desire" or "wish" are in the hundreds.) 3. Jì 冀 (ant. jù 懼 "fear") typically refers to an unrealistic or distant precarious hope concerning one's own future or other person's future actions. 4. Wàng 望 "look forward to" refers to a hope regarding realistic external events, and not necessary actions by any person, and the word tends to refer to a more realistic concrete hope and expectation than the equally current yuàn 願.

                  5. Qī 期 is a definitive realistic hope, often related to one's own future actions.

                  6. Xìng 幸 "hope to be so lucky to find that" (ant. wèi 畏 "fear") is part of polite court speech and refers to a high hope presented as not strongly realistic.

                  NB: Pàn 盼 is post-Han.

                • FEAR

                  1. The most general word for any kind of passing fear is probably jù 懼 and this word naturally links with yōu 憂 "worry", and this word refers to a momentary historical moment where that fear manifested itself ( 文王乃懼 "then King Wén got scared"). Jù sǐ 懼死 is momentary fear for one's life, whereas wèi sǐ 畏死 refers to a general state where one is too frightened to sacrifice one's life.

                  2. Kǒng 恐 refers primarily to intense or overwhelming possibly passing state of fear, and the word differs from jù 懼 mainly in degree of intensity and in the managability of the danger faced.

                  3. Wèi 畏 is typically a stable state of reasoned fear, typically relating those who are in authority (the etymologically related wēi 威 on which relation there is much word-play in texts like ZUO), or ghosts etc, but the word also has extended generalised uses, as in wèi sǐ 畏死 "be afraid to die".

                  4. Jīng 驚 refers to the sudden onset of fear when someone is faced with an unexpected danger.

                  5. Lì 栗 / 慄 and zhàn 戰 is to shiver with intense fear, and the physical expression of fear can be more prominent the inner feeling expressed through shivering.

                  6. Qiè 怯 "chicken-livered and unlikely to undertake risky tasks" and nuò 懦 (ant. yǒng 勇 "courage, boldness") as well as dàn 憚 "unduly prone to feelings of fear" refer to being pusilanimousness or the lack or courage where courage is required.

                  7. Bù 怖 "be in a current acute state of fear" has no weakened generalised uses.

                  8. Sǒng 悚 / 聳 "be fretful, given to fear; get slightly frightened" refers to mild forms of (possibly superfluous or reprehensible) fear.

                  9. Jì 悸 refers to symptoms of violent heart-beat caused by intense fear.

                  NB: Pà 怕 is post-Buddhist (TANG).

                • RESPECT

                  1. The current general word for typically public respectful attitudes and actions is jìng 敬 (ant. màn 慢 "fail to show proper respect for").

                  2. Gōng 恭 (ant. jù 倨 "behave in an informal impolite way") refers specifically to private proper polite and respectful attitudes shown to a deserving person.

                  3. Zūn 尊 (ant. bǐ 鄙 "consider as not worthy of any veneration or respect") refers to psychological public or private respect for someone in a very exalted social, cultural, religious and/or political position, and the degree of public respect is much greater that that in jìng 敬 and reaches into the past to ancestors.

                  4. Chóng 崇 and zōng 宗 refers to distant and typically religious veneration of a spirit or person very highly regarded. SHI 靡神不宗 "there are no spirits which we have not honoured"

                  5. Lǐ 禮 (ant. màn 慢 "treat without proper ritual respect") refers to a proper show of public demonstrative respect for someone on the part of a host or a superior.

                  6. Wèi 畏 (ant. xiá 狎 "treat without the proper respect due to someone in high position, treat with improper familiarity") refers to awe-struck respect for a person in authority.

                  7. Lóng 隆 typically refers to due diligent respect for abstract values.

                  8. Qīn 欽 is an archaic courtly word referring to formal conformity with the rules of polite respect for superiors on public occasions.

                  9. Zhī 知 focusses on proper appreciation of a person, accompanied by recognition of that person's worth.

                • FRIGHTEN

                  1. The current general word for frightening someone in a lasting way is jīng 驚.

                  2. Jù 懼 is used causatively to refer quite generally to striking fear into someone, and this state of fear is usually of short duration.

                  3. Kǒng 恐 is sometimes used causatively and intensitively to refer to terrifying someone.

                  4. Wèi 畏 is used causatively to refer to striking awe-struck fear into someone, and the word is sometimes used in a more general way for frightening.

                  5. Hè 赫 / 嚇 is probably a dialect word referring to the frightening of someone.

                  NB: Hǔ 唬 "frighten" is post-Han.

                  Word relations
                • Ant: (FEAR)利/LIKE
                • Ant: (RESPECT)易/DESPISE Yì 易 (ant. zhòng 重 "treat as important") focusses on the subjective failure to take someone or something seriously and does not necessarily involve a critical judgment.
                • Ant: (RESPECT)侮/HUMILIATE The general word for personally and demonstratively humiliating and insulting a person is wǔ 侮 (ant. lǐ 禮 "treat politely, show proper politeness towards").
                • Object: (RESPECT)威/POWER The dominant general words for power are wēi 威 "formidable authority" and shì 勢 "strategic position of power".
                • Contrast: (RESPECT)敬/RESPECT The current general word for respectful attitudes and actions is jìng 敬 (ant. màn 慢 "fail to show proper respect for").
                • Assoc: (FEAR)忌/FEAR
                • Assoc: (FEAR)懼/FEAR The most general word for any kind of passing fear is probably jù 懼 and this word naturally links with yōu 憂 "worry", and this word refers to a momentary historical moment where that fear manifested itself (文王乃懼 "then King Wén got scared"). Jù sǐ 懼死 is momentary fear for one's life, whereas wèi sǐ 畏死 refers to a general state where one is too frightened to sacrifice one's life.
                • Assoc: (FEAR)恐/FEAR Kǒng 恐 refers primarily to intense or overwhelming possibly passing state of fear, and the word differs from jù 懼 mainly in degree of intensity and in the managability of the danger faced.
                • Assoc: (RESPECT)重/RESPECT
                • Synon: (FEAR)懼/FEAR The most general word for any kind of passing fear is probably jù 懼 and this word naturally links with yōu 憂 "worry", and this word refers to a momentary historical moment where that fear manifested itself (文王乃懼 "then King Wén got scared"). Jù sǐ 懼死 is momentary fear for one's life, whereas wèi sǐ 畏死 refers to a general state where one is too frightened to sacrifice one's life.
                • Oppos: (RESPECT)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.)