Chinese Idioms - Chengyu

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    literally An interval of time is worth an ounce of gold, money cannot buy you time.

    yī
    一
    cùn
    寸
    guāng
    光
    yīn
    阴
    yī
    一
    cùn
    寸
    jīn
    金
    ，
    cùn
    寸
    jīn
    金
    nán
    难
    mǎi
    买
    cùn
    寸
    guāng
    光
    yīn
    阴
    一寸光阴一寸金，寸金难买寸光阴
    yī cùn guāng yīn yī cùn jīn , cùn jīn nán mǎi cùn guāng yīn

    Different translations of this Chinese idiom or chengyu

    • literally An interval of time is worth an ounce of gold, money cannot buy you time.
    • fig. Time is precious and must be treasured.

    Word by word translation of this Chinese idiom

    一
    yī
    one / 1 / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire / whole / all / throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1)
    寸
    cùn
    a unit of length / inch / thumb
    光
    guāng
    light / ray / bright / only / merely / to use up / CL:道[dào]
    阴
    yīn
    overcast (weather) / cloudy / shady / Yin (the negative principle of Yin and Yang) / negative (electric.) / feminine / moon / implicit / hidden / genitalia / variant of 陰|阴[yīn] / surname Yin
    一
    yī
    one / 1 / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire / whole / all / throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1)
    寸
    cùn
    a unit of length / inch / thumb
    金
    jīn
    Jurchen Jin dynasty (1115-1234) / gold / chemical element Au / generic term for lustrous and ductile metals / money / golden / highly respected / one of the eight ancient musical instruments 八音[bā yīn] / surname Jin / surname Kim (Korean)
    寸
    cùn
    a unit of length / inch / thumb
    金
    jīn
    Jurchen Jin dynasty (1115-1234) / gold / chemical element Au / generic term for lustrous and ductile metals / money / golden / highly respected / one of the eight ancient musical instruments 八音[bā yīn] / surname Jin / surname Kim (Korean)
    难
    nán
    difficult (to...) / problem / difficulty / difficult / not good
    nàn
    disaster / distress / to scold
    买
    mǎi
    to buy / to purchase
    寸
    cùn
    a unit of length / inch / thumb
    光
    guāng
    light / ray / bright / only / merely / to use up / CL:道[dào]
    阴
    yīn
    overcast (weather) / cloudy / shady / Yin (the negative principle of Yin and Yang) / negative (electric.) / feminine / moon / implicit / hidden / genitalia / variant of 陰|阴[yīn] / surname Yin
    Data is based on CC-CEDICT. See the full data in action here MDBG Chinese-English dictionary.

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