Additional information about 邈
說文解字:
- Criteria
- 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.