ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY

without; none; -less

Where 无 comes from

Originally a dancer with long sleeves (the ancestor of 舞 dance). The sound was borrowed for 'not have', and the dancer vanished into abstraction: emptiness wearing a dancer's costume.

无 in Chinese culture

无 is the formal 没有: 无线 wireless, 无聊 bored ('without interest'), 无法 unable. Daoism made it philosophy — 无为 wu wei, effortless action. Your Wi-Fi's 无线网络 carries a Daoist prefix.

Example

How to remember it

The dancer danced away — NOTHING left, WITHOUT.

无 is the '-less' of Chinese: 无线 wire-less, 无糖 sugar-free, 无人机 'no-person machine' — a drone.

Same sound, different tones

Words unlocked by 无

Related characters

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