Cannot Find Proper Definition For This "mo" Character

[slimandslam]

I'm trying to figure out the meaning and usage of this particular character (see attachment). The only

reference I can find to it online is on www.chinese-dictionary.org which is where I took the attached screen capture from. The translation "dimi" is not an English word, as far as I can tell. Anyone have

an explanation?

J

[li3wei1]

It might be short for 'diminutive'. This character is usually used as a particle, attached to other characters to alter their meaning slightly, i.e. 这么，那么，怎么，什么。 (么 is the simplified form, the one in your jpg is the traditional form)

[OneEye]

According to the 國語辭典, when pronounced mó, it means tiny or minute. The citation given is from 列子, and I don't think I've ever seen it used that way, but apparently 幺麼小醜 is a chengyu, and 幺麼 means petty or insignificant. As li3wei1 mentioned, in modern Chinese it's usually used as a particle in the above-mentioned words (這麼, 那麼 etc.), and is pronounced me. It can also be read má, as in 幹麼 (but that's usually written 幹嘛), or ma, in which case it is equivalent to 嗎. I'd guess that last one is not something you'll really find in modern texts, though I have seen 幹麼.

Also, 說文解字 says the meaning is 細, so I'd guess "tiny or minute" is closer to its original meaning.

[Demonic_Duck]

I think it's also sometimes pronounced "mo" as part of compounds in songs (in the same way that possessive 的 becomes "di").

[Chinesehelper]

it has no real meaning. it always uses with another character “什”to form a word“什么” that means ‘what’