Taxonomy of meanings for 處:　　

  • 處 chǔ (OC: khljaʔ MC: tɕʰiɔ) 昌與切 上 廣韻：【居也止也制也息也留也定也説文又作処亦姓風俗通云漢有北海太守處興 】
    • chu3 state> BE IN
      • vt+prep+Nfind oneself in, be in
      • vtoNfigurativefind oneself in (a condition, at a time); occupy (a position or an office)
      • vt[oN]be in a placeCH
      • vadNN=placewhich the subject dwells in, is in, lives inCH
      • process:occur in a place> HAPPEN
        • vi+N{SUBJ}grammaticalisedshould perhaps be vi N{SUBJ}.adS after such-and-such a time
      • cause one's mind to be in> CONCENTRATE
        • vtoNorientate oneself towards, feel at home in (in transferred sense); take one's stand in; practise or exercise (a virtue); settle for
      • action> REMAIN
        • viactremain (with someone)
        • vtoNfigurativeremain in, stay in
        • vtoNremain in the place N
        • perfective> STOP
            • remain stationary (in kneeling mode!) SIT
              • vtoNtake one's seat in (a seat of honour etc.)CH
          • remain in possession> HAVE
            • vtoNobtain and then continue to enjoy the use of 處厚祿
            • and occupy> DWELL
              • viact, figurativepass one's time; live
              • vt+prep+Nlive in
              • vtoNstay in (a place); stay among (the barbarians etc); choose to dwell in, choose as one's abode; take up private residence in
              • vtoNcausativecause (oneself) to have a dwelling
              • vtoNfigurativedwell in (oneself)
              • vt+prep+Ninchoativetake up private residence in
              • vttoN1.+prep+N2cause N1 to take up residence in N2
              • vt[oN]dwell in one's placeCH
              • vt(oN)inchoativesettle in NCH
              • vtoNfigurativederived: dwell in spiritually> live by N, be constantly informed spiritually or morally by NCH
              • for recuperation> REST
                • viremain in a place to take a rest
                • vtoNfind one's place in> put up withCH
        • causative> ARRANGE
          • vtoNarange, place properly
      • and act accordingly> ACT
        • nabacttreatment; handling (of a matter); behavi5our
        • vtoNconduct (official duties); deal with, treat (one's children etc in a certain way)
        • vt[oN]deal with one's affairsCH
        • social> COOPERATE
          • viactengage in cooperation
          • attitudinal> TREAT
            • vtoNtreat, deal withLZ
            • administrative> GOVERN
              • vtoNactmanage; govern, administer
              • vtoNsort out properly
              • legal> JUDGE
                • vtoNpass judgement on; sentence; deal with legally
    • 處 chù (OC: qhljas MC: tɕʰiɔ) 昌據切 去 廣韻：【處所也昌據切又音杵二 】
      • PLACE
        • n.red:adVallREDUP: at all places, everywhere
        • nplace 其處often: same place; one's proper place; dé qí chù 得其處 "find one's proper place" absent, but 之其處.
        • nab.post-Sthe place where S obtains or happens
        • nabfigurativeabstract place, 'mental' placeBUDDH: point; feature, item(sometimes semantically very weak, functioning similar to a nominalizer: 'the fact that...; respect'; sphere (Skt. gocara, s. in 心行處 functional realm of the mind)
        • npost-Nthe place where N was/is
        • npost-Sthe place where S happens
        • nabsocialsocial placeCH
        • nabderived, figurativevantage point, place that defines the perspective from which something is seen or interpretedCH
        • place one dwells> HOME
          • n[post-N]one's homeCH
          • social> OFFICE
            • nabemployment, position, job
        • abstract> SITUATION
          • nabfeaturecurrent situation, current stage; constellation
          • Buddhist:theoretical> FEATURE
            • nabmetaphysicalBuddhist: feature in a thing
            • Buddhisst:theoretical> ESSENCE
              • nabmetaphysicalbasic feature
              • conceivable> POSSIBLE
                • nabBUDDH: place where something may happen > possibility in this world
                • Buddhist: theoretical entity> THING
                  • nabmetaphysicalBUDDH: ("place in the universe">) item in the universe; sphere of items
        • chronological space> TIME
          • nab.post-NTang dynasty: point in time, circumstances of time and place
    • chǔ (OC: khljaʔ MC: tɕʰiɔ) 昌與切 上 廣韻：【居也止也制也息也留也定也説文又作処亦姓風俗通云漢有北海太守處興 】
    • chù (OC: qhljas MC: tɕʰiɔ) 昌據切 去 廣韻：【處所也昌據切又音杵二 】
    • chù (OC: khljaʔ MC: tɕʰiɔ) 昌據切 去 廣韻：【俗處 】
    • chǔDISASTER
      • nabstativetrouble, difficultyCS

    Additional information about 處

    說文解字: 【処】，止也。得几而止。从几、从夊。 〔小徐本作「从夊，得几而止。」〕 【昌與切】 【處】，処或从虍聲。

      Criteria
    • BE IN

      [GRAMMATICALISED/LEXICAL]

      1. The general word is zài 在 (ant. wáng 亡 "be not present, be absent") which refers to any presence of anything in anything.

      [GENERAL]

      2. Chù 處 is often non-literally spatial and refers to occupancy of a well-defined place in society, but has a wide range of associated meanings and is very common.

      [ABSTRACT!]

      3. Yú 於 is grammaticalised as a preposition but can come to function as a main verb "be in", and this verbal use may perhaps be taken to be etymologically primary.

      [GRAMMATICALISED]

      4. Jū 居 is orginally "to dwell at home" and sometimes comes to mean more generally "be in". See BE AT HOME

      [MARGINAL]; [[RARE]]

      5. Lu# 履 "tread on" occasionally refers to being in a certain position.

      [ABSTRACT], [ELEVATED]; [[RARE]]

    • PLACE

      1. The most general word referring to the location of something is chù 處 which may refer to the location in which a thing happens to be at some point in time, or to the place where something belongs, and the word refers to both abstract and concrete spatial location.

      2. Suǒ 所 "proper place", when used pregnantly on its own, refers to the place where a thing basically belongs, where someone lives, and where something should be. This word was the most common word for a place in early literature. Quite frequently, the word refers not just to a place, but particularly to a building in a place.

      3. Dì 地 is primarily a territory, and only by occasional extension the abstract location of something.

      4. W4èi 位 sometimes comes to refer to the position in a terrain.

      5. Chǎng 場 refers specifically to the location for certain activities like threshing etc.

    • REMAIN

      1. The current word for staying or remaining in one place is jū 居 (ant. xíng 行 "walk away").

      2.Chǔ 處 (ant. yóu 游 "travel"), much rarer than jū 居, refers to being situated in one place rather than moving about, and the word, in this meaning, can refer to persons as well as things.

      3. Zhǐ 止 is inchoative and refers to the coming to stop so as to remain in a certain place after movement.

      4. Liú 留 (ant. lí 離 "get away from a place") refers to immobility in one place after one has already spent some time there.

      5. Zhù 駐 can come to refer to staying in a place other than one's home.

      6. Zhì 滯 refers to getting stuck in one place, being unable to leave.

    • DWELL

      1. The current general words for dwelling in a place for some considerable time are jū 居 and chǔ 處 (all ant. xíng 行 "travel").

      2. Shè 舍 and sù 宿 refer to spending the night in a certain place.

      3. Guǎn 館 refers to spending the night in a visitor's hostel (which is China's ancient answer to a hotel).

      4. Qī 棲 refers to a temporary or non-voluntary stay of any length, typically of an informal kind. See ROOST

      5. Xìn 信 is sometimes used as a technical term for staying in a place for two nights.

      6. Cì 次 is sometimes used as a technical term for spending more than two days in a certain place.

      7. Jì 寄 and yù 寓 refer to staying in some place for a strictly limited space of time.

      8. Jùn 軍 refers specifically to an army encamping in a certain place for a limited time.

      NB: Zhù 住 is post-Buddhist (SIX DYNASTIES)

    • THEREUPON

      [BRIEF/LONG]

      [DRAMATIC/UNDRAMATIC]

      [EMPHATIC/UNEMPHATIC]

      [NOUN/VERB/PARTICLE/CLAUSE]

      1. The current general word for "thereupon" is yú shì 於是 "at that point, then, thereupon" with its expanded variant yú shì hū 於是乎, but these expressions do not allow for any long delay.

      2. Yǒu jiān 有間 (ant.* xuǎn 旋／還 "without delay", dùn 頓 "immediately, without hesitation") refers to a brief interval of a certain time which ensues, and after which something new happens in the narrative sequence.

      [BRIEF], [UNDRAMATIC], [UNEMPHATIC]; [CLAUSE]

      3. Yǒu qǐng 有頃 (ant. è ér 俄而 "without delay", lì 立 "without delay") is "after a while" and the interval is perhaps a little longer than in yǒu jiān 有間, and this expression also refers to a plain narrative sequence.

      [BRIEF], [UNDRAMATIC], [UNEMPHATIC]; [CLAUSE]

      4. Yǐ ér 已而 (ant. qián cǐ 前此 "before this point in time") refers with emphasis to a longer than expected interval after a certain time.

      [LONG], [DRAMATIC], [EMPHATIC]; [PARTICLE]

      5. Jū 居 (as in jū sān yuè 居三月 "after three months") and the rarer chǔ 處 serve simply to indicate a specified interval after a certain time after which something else happens.

      [VERB], [UNDRAMATIC], [UNEMPHATIC]

      6. Jì 既 (ant. wèi jí 未及 "before even...") focusses dramatically on the fact that an action B does not occur before the action A is completed.

      [BRIEF], [DRAMATIC], [EMPHATIC]; [PARTICLE]

      7. Rán hòu 然後 (ant. yǐ qián 以前 "before") emphasises that an event occurs no sooner than after a certain event or space of time. See ONLY THEN.

      [BRIEF], [DRAMATIC], [EMPHATIC]; [PARTICLE]

      8. Ér hòu 而後 (ant. yǐ qián 以前 "before") emphasises that an event occurs no sooner than after a certain event or space of time. See ONLY THEN.

      [BRIEF], [EMPHATIC]; [PARTICLE]

      9. Xū yú 須臾 stresses that an event occurred immediately after another.

      [BRIEF+]; [nadS]

      10. Hòu 後 (ant. qián 前 "before") is a general word indicating that something happens later than something else.

      Word relations
    • Ant: (DWELL)行/TRAVEL The standard word for travelling for any purpose is xíng 行.
    • Contrast: (OFFICE)位/RANK Wèi 位 and the rarer liè 列 typically refer to relatively elevated official ranks only.
    • Contrast: (PLACE)地/PLACE Dì 地 is primarily a territory, and only by occasional extension the abstract location of something.
    • Contrast: (BE IN)居/BE IN Jū 居 is orginally "to dwell at home" and sometimes comes to mean more generally "be in". See BE AT HOME [MARGINAL]; [[RARE]]
    • Assoc: (PLACE)區/TERRITORY Qū 區 typically refers to what is regarded as a subdivision of some territory, according to some criterion.
    • Synon: (PLACE)所/PLACE Suǒ 所 "proper place", when used pregnantly on its own refers to the place where a thing basically belongs, where someone lives, and where something should be. This word was the most common word for a place in early literature. Quite frequently, the word refers not just to a place, but particularly to a building in a place.
    • Synon: (BE IN)在 / 才/BE IN The general word is zài 在 (ant. wáng 亡"be not present, be absent") which refers to any presence of anything in anything. [GENERAL]
    • Synon: (DWELL)居/DWELLING