莫

mò

do not; no one; none; negative

Meaning

General negation, prohibition, or an indefinite pronominal reference ("no one," "nothing").

Grammar and usage

Functions as an imperative to forbid or advise against an action (largely interchangeable with 勿 and 毋). Also functions as a negative indefinite pronoun serving as the subject or object of a sentence.

History and forms

Historically linked to 暮 (dusk/sunset); the original sense of "fading light" evolved into a general marker of absence or negation.

Translator notes

If translating as a prohibitive ("do not") creates a dangling imperative that does not fit the context, test whether the glyph is acting as the subject of the sentence (meaning "nobody").

Decontextualized translator aid. This page describes plausible lexical range; it does not choose what the glyph means in a particular passage.