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占卜 (zhān bǔ) — to divine, to practice divination (formal or traditional methods)

Definition

占卜 means to divine the future or hidden outcomes by traditional means (tossing coins, reading bones, etc.). It is a formal, cultural-religious practice, distinct from the secular 'sacred' sense of 神圣.

verb
to divineto practice divination (formal or traditional methods)

Examples

  • 占卜。
    Tā rēng sān méi yìng bì lái zhān bǔ wèi lái.
    He tosses three coins to divine the future.
  • 占卜。
    Gǔ dài jūn wáng yòng zhān bǔ jué dìng dà shì.
    Ancient kings used divination to decide important matters.
  • 占卜。
    Tā qǐng rén zhān bǔ tā de hūn yīn.
    She asked someone to divine about her marriage.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

占zhàndivine
卜bǔdivination

占 and 卜 both relate to divination, together meaning to divine.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 佔; 占 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
占
占zhàn佔zhàn
Same sound today

The traditional form 佔 has a person part 亻 and a sound part 占; the simplified 占 is a later abbreviation.

Open 占 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

卜 is thought to come from the shape of a crack in an oracle bone, which was used for predicting the future.

Open 卜 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Religion & Belief

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