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天敌 (tiān dí) — natural enemy; predator

Definition

A 天敌 (tiāndí) is an animal's natural enemy in the wild — a species that preys on or threatens it by nature, not by circumstance. The metaphor in 懒惰是成功的天敌 extends this to anything seen as an inherent, built-in opponent.

noun
natural enemypredator

Examples

  • 天敌。
    Shé shì lǎo shǔ de tiān dí zhī yī.
    Snakes are one of the natural enemies of mice.
  • 天敌。
    Māo de tiān dí bāo kuò gǒu hé gèng dà de dòng wù.
    Cats' natural enemies include dogs and larger animals.
  • 天敌。
    Lǎn duò kě yǐ bèi kàn zuò shì chéng gōng de tiān dí.
    Laziness can be seen as the natural enemy of success.

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.

天tiānnatural
敌díenemy

天 suggests natural or heaven, and 敌 means enemy, giving natural enemy.

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.

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 →

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 敵; 敌 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
攴攴pūto tap; to hit
Sound part声符shēngfú
啻
啻chì敵dí
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 敵 pairs 啻 as a sound part with 攴, a part for tapping or hitting.

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

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