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有緣無分

简有缘无分 · 繁有緣無分

Mandarin · pinyin yǒu yuán wú fèn

destined to meet but not fated to be together (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

有: yǒu · have, own, possess; exist
緣: Look up this written character
無: Look up this written character
分: fēn · divide; small unit of time etc.
缘: yuán · hem, margin; reason, cause; fate
无: wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3–2–2–4 · you3 yuan2 wu2 fen4

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

有緣無分 · find source passages ↗ · 有缘无分 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(of two people) to be destined to meet, but not fated to be together; not meant to be together; (in general) to be not destined for each other

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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