鰥寡孤獨

Chinese

		widows and widowers	orphans and the childless
trad. (鰥寡孤獨)		鰥寡	孤獨
simp. (鳏寡孤独)		鳏寡	孤独

Etymology

From Mencius (《孟子·梁惠王下》):

老而無妻曰鰥，老而無夫曰寡，老而無子曰獨，幼而無父曰孤。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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老而无妻曰鳏，老而无夫曰寡，老而无子曰独，幼而无父曰孤。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Lǎo ér wú qī yuē guān, lǎo ér wú fū yuē guǎ, lǎo ér wú zǐ yuē dú, yòu ér wú fù yuē gū. [Pinyin]

There were the old and wifeless, or widowers; the old and husbandless, or widows; the old and childless, or solitaries; the young and fatherless, or orphans

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): guānguǎgūdú

  (Zhuyin): ㄍㄨㄢ ㄍㄨㄚˇ ㄍㄨ ㄉㄨˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gwaan¹ gwaa² gu¹ duk⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: guānguǎgūdú
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄨㄢ ㄍㄨㄚˇ ㄍㄨ ㄉㄨˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: guanguǎgudú
    • Wade–Giles: kuan¹-kua³-ku¹-tu²
    • Yale: gwān-gwǎ-gū-dú
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: guangoagudwu
    • Palladius: гуаньгуагуду (guanʹguagudu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ku̯än⁵⁵ ku̯ä²¹⁴⁻²¹ ku⁵⁵ tu³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: gwaan¹ gwaa² gu¹ duk⁶
    • Yale: gwāan gwá gū duhk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gwaan¹ gwaa² gu¹ duk⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: guan¹ gua² gu¹ dug⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʷaːn⁵⁵ kʷaː³⁵ kuː⁵⁵ tʊk̚²/

Idiom

鰥寡孤獨

1. people who have no one to rely on