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听命 (tīng mìng) — to obey orders, to follow commands; to be resigned to one's fate, to let fate take its course

Definition

听命 covers two distinct senses: 'to obey orders' (often as 听命于 + a superior) and 'to resign oneself to fate' (听天由命). The first is about following authority; the second is passivity toward circumstances.

verb
to obey ordersto follow commandsto be resigned to one's fateto let fate take its course

Examples

  • 听命。
    Tā tīng mìng yú shàng jí de ān pái.
    He follows his superiors' arrangements.
  • ，听命。
    Xiàn zài zhǐ néng tīng tiān yóu mìng le, wǒ men tīng mìng ba.
    We have no choice but to trust to fate now — let fate take its course.
  • ，。
    Tā zhī tīng lǎo bǎn de mìng, bié rén shuō shén me dōu méi yòng.
    He only follows his boss's orders; nothing anyone else says matters.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

听tīngobey
命mìngorder

'听' gives obeying and '命' gives orders, so one follows commands.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 聽; 听 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 聽 has 耳 (ear) and 口 (mouth), used for listening; the simplified 听 is a later shortened form unrelated to that picture.

Open 听 →

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
令
令lìng命mìng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

命 combines 口, a mouth, with 令, which gives the sound.

Open 命 →
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