TongTong
Sign in

先天 (xiān tiān) — congenital condition; inborn trait (the period before or at birth, contrasted with 后天 acquired later); innate; inborn (used attributively)

Definition

先天 is 'inborn / congenital' (先天因素 'innate factors'), paired with 后天 to mean 'before birth vs. after'. Unlike 天生, it contrasts with acquired traits; 天性 refers to natural disposition.

noun
congenital conditioninborn trait (the period before or at birth, contrasted with 后天 acquired later)innateinborn (used attributively)

Examples

  • 先天，。
    xiān tiān Jí bìng suī rán nán zhì, dàn xiàn dài yī xué yǐ jīng yǒu le hěn duō bàn fǎ.
    Although congenital diseases are hard to treat, modern medicine already has many methods.
  • 先天。
    xiān tiān De cái néng xū yào hòu tiān de nǔ lì cái néng fā huī chū lái.
    Inborn talent needs acquired effort to be brought out.
  • 先天。
    xiān tiān Yīn sù hé hòu tiān huán jìng gòng tóng jué dìng le rén de fā zhǎn.
    Both innate factors and acquired environment together determine a person's development.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

先xiānbefore
天tiānheaven

A 先 天, the time before birth, is innate.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

先 combines 止 (foot) and 儿 (person) to show someone moving forward.

Open 先 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
大大dà
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng天tiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

Open 天 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Biology

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.