天机 (tiān jī) — heavenly secret; divine mystery; (literary) inn… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literary noun with two main senses: a 'heavenly secret / divine mystery' (something hidden or inexpliqué, as in 天机不可泄露), and a 'natural talent or bent' someone is born with.

noun

heavenly secretdivine mystery(literary) innate talentnatural bent

Examples

天机，。
tiān jī Bù kě xiè lòu, fǒu zé huì rě lái má fan.
Heaven's secrets must not be revealed, or it will cause trouble.
天机，。
Tā duì yīn yuè yǒu dú tè de tiān jī, yì tīng jiù dǒng.
He has a unique natural talent for music — he understands it as soon as he hears it.
天机，。
Dà zì rán de tiān jī, rén lèi zhì jīn réng rán wú fǎ jiě shì.
The mysteries of nature are still inexplicable to humans.

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.

机jīsecret

天 “heaven” and 机 “secret” combine to mean a heavenly or hidden secret.

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

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.

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

木几机

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree; wood

Sound part声符shēngfú

几

几jǐ机jī

Same sound today

The left part is 木 (tree; wood), and the right part 几 gives the sound.

Appears in

Religion & Belief

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