Many of the early Chinese settlers in Taiwan lived solitary lives without families. Such people were dubbed "Lohan feet," a term which was later used to describe any rootless person or unmarried man.
早年來台開墾的先民中，很多人孤苦一生都未成家，這種人被稱為「羅漢腳」，以後也用來形容一般的流浪漢、單身漢。