缘（緣）yuánⅠ ❶ （缘故） reason: 无 ～ 无故 without rhyme or reason; for no reason at all; ～ 何到此？ What's your reason for coming here?
❷ （缘分） predestined relationship: 人 ～ 儿 relations with people; popularity; 姻 ～ predestined marriage; 有一面之 ～ happen to have met once
❸ （边） edge; fringe; brink: 外 ～ outer fringe [edge]; 这个城市处于沙漠南 ～。 This city is located on the southern fringe of the desert. Ⅱ （攀援） climb up: ～ 木求鱼 climb trees to look for fish Ⅲ (沿着； 顺着) along: ～ 溪而行 walk along the stream
◆缘分 lot or luck by which people are brought together; {佛教} destiny [luck] as conditioned by one's past; 缘故 cause; reason; 缘木求鱼 climb trees to catch [look for] fish — cannot get blood from a stone; catch fish in a tree — a useless search; do the impossible; 缘起 genesis; origin; an account of the founding of an institution or the beginning of a project; 缘由 reason; cause |