一刹那

• Pinyin: yī chà nà
• Hanzi breakdown: 一 = single horizontal stroke (one); 刹 = 杀 + 刀 (kill + knife — originally a Buddhist temple/monastery, here phonetic for Sanskrit 'kṣa'); 那 = 冄 + 阝(邑) (originally a place name character, here phonetic for Sanskrit 'ṇa')

Meaning

An instant; a split second; a momentary flash of time. The briefest possible duration — often used to convey dramatic, fleeting, or emotionally charged moments.

More literary and dramatic than 一瞬间 or 一下子. Common in literary prose, film narration, and formal speech. 刹那 is a Buddhist loanword from Sanskrit 'kṣaṇa' (the smallest unit of time in Abhidharma philosophy), lending the phrase a philosophical undertone of impermanence.

Examples

1. 就在子弹飞出枪管的一刹那，他猛地扑向掩体，仅以毫厘之差躲过了这致命的一击。 The instant the bullet left the barrel, he lunged for cover and avoided a fatal hit by a hair’s breadth.
2. 舞台上的灯光骤然熄灭，在那一刹那的完全黑暗中，观众席上爆发出一片屏息的寂静。 The stage lights suddenly went out, and in that split second of complete darkness, the audience erupted into a breath-held silence.
3. 二十年后再度踏上故乡的土地，望见熟悉的老街，她的心在一刹那间被记忆与乡愁同时击中。 Twenty years later, when she set foot on her hometown soil again and saw the familiar old street, memories and homesickness struck her all at once in an instant.

Usage Guide

Context: literature, film, philosophy, narrative

Tone: dramatic

Do Say

• 就在两列列车即将相撞的一刹那，驾驶员凭借多年积累的驾驶直觉做出了果断的紧急制动，将这场灾难化解于毫厘之间。(In the split second just before the two trains were about to collide, the driver, relying on years of accumulated driving instinct, made a decisive emergency brake, averting the disaster at the last possible moment.)
• 她在领奖台上接过奖杯的那一刹那，脑海中瞬间涌现出无数个凌晨独自训练的夜晚，泪水不由自主地夺眶而出。(In the instant she received the trophy on the podium, countless nights of solo late-night training flashed through her mind all at once, and tears welled up involuntarily.)

Don't Say

• 在一刹那之后 — the temporal boundary of 一刹那 is by definition immediate; saying 之后 (afterwards) contradicts the word's meaning; use 刹那之后 or simply 随即/随后 if you need to describe the next moment

Origin & History

一 (one/a single) + 刹那 (Buddhist term from Sanskrit 'kṣaṇa' — the smallest indivisible unit of time, borrowed into Chinese via Buddhist scripture translation)

Cultural Context

Era: Buddhist/Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal