Taxonomy of meanings for 遠:　　

  • yuàn (OC: ɢʷans MC: ɦʷiɐn) 于願切 去 廣韻：【離也于愿切一 】
  • yuǎn (OC: ɢʷanʔ MC: ɦʷiɐn) 雲阮切 上 廣韻：【遥逺也雲阮切二 】
    • DISTANT
      • vtoNfigurativeget far away from something (of principles, doctrine etc.)
      • DELETEfigurativeone who is on distant terms
      • v[adN]distant places; what is remote (and therefore inaccessible); often comparative: what is (more) distant, a distant place or thing
      • v[adN]timethose who are distant in time (i.e. long dead)
      • nabconceptdistance
      • v[adN]nonreferentialthose who are distant; fig: the disaffected
      • vadNdistant, far-away; from far away
      • vadNfigurativeunrelated
      • vadNfigurativedistant in time
      • vadNoriginfrom a distant place
      • vadSin the distance
      • vadVin the far distance, far away; into the far distance; on a distant journey; over a long distance
      • vadVgradedat a greater distance, further away
      • vadVfromfrom a long distance
      • vibe distant; be far away, be far off; be a long way; go a long way
      • vifigurativebe far-reaching; have far-reaching significance
      • vpostadVfigurativegreatly; by a wide margin; by a long shot
      • vt(oN)imperativeyuàn: move off from a contextually determinate point in space
      • vt(oN)stativebe distant from the contextually determinate object
      • vt+prep+Ngradedbe further away than N, be more distant than N
      • vt+prep+NN=placebe far away in place N
      • vtoNbe far from
      • vtoNactkeep one's proper distance
      • vtoNcausativecause to be distant, keep (one's person) at a distance (from something); keep someone else at a distance
      • vtoNcausativebe kept at a distance
      • vtoNputativeregard as far away, regard as being a long distance to travel. Also pronounced as yuàn.
      • viactgo a long way; cover a large distance
      • vt+prep+Nfigurativebe widely different from; be at variance with
      • vtoNfigurativebe at variance with
      • vadNfigurative=far-reachingfar-reaching
      • vadVfigurativewith a long future perspective; with a long-term perspective; be far-reaching
      • vt1post-vt2oNbe distant from 與X遠　“be far away from X"CH
      • vt(oN.)[adN]those who are distantCH
      • v[adN]N=humanthose people who are physically distant from the contextually determinate NCH
      • viconstitute a long distanceCH
      • vi(of a journey to travel): be farCH
      • nabfeature(the fact of) being far awayCH
      • vt[oN]be distant from oneself or from the current subject of the phraseCH
      • vadVfigurativefrom a distant pastLZ
      • vichangebecome more and more distantLZ
      • vt[oN]figurativechange: become more and more distant (from the very goal; from other things or people)LZ
      • and thus not present> ABSENT
          • change> LEAVE
            • vtoNgo far away
            • causative> BANISH
              • vtoNbanish to a distant place
              • vtoNbanish from one's vicinityCH
        • conative, causative> AVOID
          • vtoNkeep (disasters) at bay; stay clear of (disasters; the true Way);
      • in quality> DIFFERENT
        • vpostadVby a wide margin of difference
        • vtoNfigurativebe figuratively distant from> be widely different, be far different
        • by a long shot> INTENSELY
          • vpostadVby a long shot, very muchCH
        • intensitive, grammaticalised> MORE
          • vpostadVdistant in relation to> by a large margin
        • in time> PAST
          • vibe distant in time, be far removed in time
        • metaphorical> PROFOUND
          • vadNYI: profound 其旨遠 "the significance is far-reaching"
          • vadVfrom a profound long-term perspectiveCH
          • v[adN]abstractwhat reaches farCH
      • putative> DISTANT
        • vtoNfigurativeget far away from something (of principles, doctrine etc.)
        • DELETEfigurativeone who is on distant terms
        • v[adN]distant places; what is remote (and therefore inaccessible); often comparative: what is (more) distant, a distant place or thing
        • v[adN]timethose who are distant in time (i.e. long dead)
        • nabconceptdistance
        • v[adN]nonreferentialthose who are distant; fig: the disaffected
        • vadNdistant, far-away; from far away
        • vadNfigurativeunrelated
        • vadNfigurativedistant in time
        • vadNoriginfrom a distant place
        • vadSin the distance
        • vadVin the far distance, far away; into the far distance; on a distant journey; over a long distance
        • vadVgradedat a greater distance, further away
        • vadVfromfrom a long distance
        • vibe distant; be far away, be far off; be a long way; go a long way
        • vifigurativebe far-reaching; have far-reaching significance
        • vpostadVfigurativegreatly; by a wide margin; by a long shot
        • vt(oN)imperativeyuàn: move off from a contextually determinate point in space
        • vt(oN)stativebe distant from the contextually determinate object
        • vt+prep+Ngradedbe further away than N, be more distant than N
        • vt+prep+NN=placebe far away in place N
        • vtoNbe far from
        • vtoNactkeep one's proper distance
        • vtoNcausativecause to be distant, keep (one's person) at a distance (from something); keep someone else at a distance
        • vtoNcausativebe kept at a distance
        • vtoNputativeregard as far away, regard as being a long distance to travel. Also pronounced as yuàn.
        • viactgo a long way; cover a large distance
        • vt+prep+Nfigurativebe widely different from; be at variance with
        • vtoNfigurativebe at variance with
        • vadNfigurative=far-reachingfar-reaching
        • vadVfigurativewith a long future perspective; with a long-term perspective; be far-reaching
        • vt1post-vt2oNbe distant from 與X遠　“be far away from X"CH
        • vt(oN.)[adN]those who are distantCH
        • v[adN]N=humanthose people who are physically distant from the contextually determinate NCH
        • viconstitute a long distanceCH
        • vi(of a journey to travel): be farCH
        • nabfeature(the fact of) being far awayCH
        • vt[oN]be distant from oneself or from the current subject of the phraseCH
        • vadVfigurativefrom a distant pastLZ
        • vichangebecome more and more distantLZ
        • vt[oN]figurativechange: become more and more distant (from the very goal; from other things or people)LZ

      Additional information about 遠

      說文解字: 【遠】，遼也。从辵、袁聲。 【雲阮切】【𨖸】，古文遠。

        Criteria
      • AVOID

        [[BASIC/DERIVED]]

        [ABSTRACT/CONCRETE]

        [DELIBERATE/INVOLUNTARY]

        [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

        [GRAMMATICALISED/LEXICAL]

        [HIGH-DEGREE/LOW-DEGREE]

        1. The general word is miǎn 免 (ant. zāo 遭 "encounter"), and this refers to any voluntary or involuntary process leading to one's escape from what otherwise might occur, especially one's being spared a negative experience.

        [CONCRETE], [GENERAL]

        2. Bì 避 (ant. mào 冒 "expose oneself to"), unlike miǎn 免, is always deliberate and describes a strategy of action which successfully avoids an undesirable impending danger.

        [DELIBERATE]

        3. Yuàn 遠 (ant. jìn 近 "move close to") is a specific strategy of avoidance which is well within one's control and consists in keeping what is undesirable at a long distance from one.

        [DELIBERATE], [HIGH-DEGREE]

        4. Lí 離 differs from yuàn 遠 in the fact that no great distance, concrete or abstract, is implied in the word.

        [DELIBERATE]; [[DERIVED]]

        5. Chú 除 refers to the avoidance or removal of something that is perceived as posing a powerful threat. See REMOVE

        [CAUSATIVE], [DELIBERATE]; [[DERIVED]]

        6. Qù 去 (ant. lí 罹 "get exposed to") is avoidance through getting rid of what is threatening.

        [CAUSATIVE], [DELIBERATE]; [[DERIVED]]

        7. Jué 絕 refers to avoidance through getting rid completely and definitively of what is threatening.

        [ABSTRACT], [CAUSATIVE], [DELIBERATE], [HIGH-DEGREE]

        8. Tuì 退 refers to avoidance by withdrawing from what exposes one to what is threatening.

        [DELIBERATE], [SPECIFIC]

        9. Wù 勿 is a negation referring to an instruction to avoid doing something, and the word often has an object pronoun understood. See NOT.

        [GRAMMATICALISED]

      • NEAR

        1. The dominant general word is jìn 近 (ant. yuǎn 遠 "far") which refers to any concrete or abstract proximity in space, time or quality.

        2. Jī 幾 typically refers to an abstract closeness or relatedness with relates neither to space nor to time.

        3. Pò 迫 and "precariously close" refer to spatial proximity of a potentially dangerous kind.

        4. Bó 薄 "very close" refers to spatial proximity primarily but is occasionally used in transferred metaphorical senses to refer to abstract proximity.

        5. Lín 鄰 is permanent geographical proxity.

        6. Eψ 邇 is an archaic and elevated general term for closeness.

        7. Proximity to a city can be expressed by the "postposiiton" xià 下.

      • DISTANT

        1. The clearly dominant term for distance in general is yuǎn 遠 (ant. jìn 近 "close").

        2. Shū 疏 (ant. qīn 親 "close") often refers to distance of relation in a more than purely physical sense.

        3. Yōu 悠 and jiǒng 迥 is a poetic word describing as distant something which one wishes was near.

        4. Liáo 遼 is a poetic referring to what is distant and remote in space and therefore an obscure place. Note liáo yuǎn 遼遠.

        5. Miǎo 邈 is a rare poetic word, and from the few usages we have it seems more frequently to refer to distance in time.

        6. Yáo 遙 is an elusive poetic word referring to a mystical distance, typically the distance into which one roams freely xiāo yáo 逍遙.

        7. Qù 去 can refer to concrete or abstract distance, and in the abstract case the distance is close in meaning to difference.

        8. Lí 離 in this sense is a purely geometrical terms that can sometimes refer to the distance of some object from another.

        9. Jué 絕 "cut-off, distant" is a fairly elevated way of referring to the remoteness of a region.

        10. Xiá 遐 (ant. ěr 邇 "close"), a distinctly rare and archaic word, describes something as not only distant, but also ethereal, remote and difficult of access.

      • APPROACH

        [DRAMATIC]/[UNDRAMATIC]

        [ELEVATED/VULGAR]

        [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

        [HIGH-DEGREE/LOW-DEGREE]

        [LITERAL/TRANSFERRED]

        1. The most current general word for approaching or getting close to anything is jìn 近 (ant. yuàn 遠 "remove oneself far from").

        [GENERAL], [LITERAL!]

        2. Jí 即 and jiù 就 (all ant. lí 離 "leave, move away from") refer neutrally to moving close to a certain place.

        [GENERAL]

        3. Bó 薄 and pò 迫 refers somewhat dramatically to moving (often precariously) close to something.

        [DRAMATIC], [LITERAL]

        4. Fù 附 is to move very close up indeed to something, often getting attached to it.

        [HIGH-DEGREE], [LITERAL]

        5. Qīn 親 (NB: shū 疏 is not used as an antonym for this meaning.) refers primarily to moving intimately close to something.

        [ELEVATED], [TRANSFERRED!]

        6. Lín 臨 is often used in ways characteristic of the dignified court style, but the word also commonly refers to getting close to a place or time in a natural course of events.

        [ELEVATED!], [GENERAL]

      • INSIDE

        1. The current general word for the inside of three-dimensional objects as opposed to what is outside them is nèi 內 (ant. wài 外 ), but this word is sometimes used to refer quite generally to the insides territories and the like. There are no degrees of neì 內 : things are either inside or outside.

        2. Zhōng 中 (ant. e.g. pàn 畔 "the margins"(!) cf. 江中 versus 江畔 ) typically refers to the centre of a domain and contrasts with the margins or what lies just outside that domain. There are degrees of zhōng 中 : some things may be more central, closer to the core, than others. Note that 中國 does not contrast with 外國 but with ZHOULI 遠國 or occasionally jué guó 絕國. Ancient China did not recognise foreign "states".

        3. Lǐ 裡 (ant. biǎo 表 ) is rare and refers in a rather abstract way to what is inward rather than mereley outward.

        4. Yāng 央 is only occasionally used to refer to the centre and is most current in the ubiquitous combination 中央 "central; the centre".

        Word relations
      • Ant: (DISTANT)近/NEAR The dominant general word is jìn 近 (ant. yuǎn 遠 "far") which refers to any concrete or abstract proximity in space, time or quality.
      • Ant: (DISTANT)親/INTIMATE The general word for close familiarity is qīn 親 (ant. shū 疏 "have only distant relations with"), but the word often retains connotations of kinship relations.
      • Ant: (DISTANT)邇/NEAR Eψ 邇 is an archaic and elevated general term for closeness.
      • Epithet: (DISTANT)方/PLACE
      • Epithet: (DISTANT)遊 / 游/TRAVEL Yóu 遊／游 refers specifically to travelling for pleasure.
      • Epithet: (DISTANT)道/WAY Dào 道, when used in its concrete meaning referring to a means of communication tends to refer to a larger line of communication, and the traditional claim is that the term refers to a road where two vehicles can pass each other. Thus the First Emperor called his Autobahns chí dào 馳道 and not chí lù 馳路.
      • Contrast: (DISTANT)敬/RESPECT The current general word for respectful attitudes and actions is jìng 敬 (ant. màn 慢 "fail to show proper respect for").
      • Assoc: (DISTANT)久/PAST
      • Assoc: (DISTANT)疏/DISTANT Shū 疏 (ant. qīn 親 "close") often refers to distance of relation in a more than purely physical sense.
      • Assoc: (DIFFERENT)遼/DISTANT Liáo 遼 is a poetic referring to what is distant and remote in space and therefore an obscure place. Note liáo yuǎn 遼遠.
      • Assoc: (DISTANT)高/HIGH The manifestly dominant general word is gāo 高(ant. bēi 卑 "low" and xià 下 "low") which refers to concrete as well as abstract elevation.