未定 (wèi dìng) — uncertain; undecided; to be determined | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Used when something (a plan, date, outcome) has not yet been decided or finalized. More formal than saying 还没定 and typically appears in set phrases like 尚∼, meaning 'still to be determined'.

uncertainundecidedto be determined

Examples

未定。
Wǒ men de jì huà mù qián hái wèi dìng.
Our plan is still undecided.
未定，。
Xuǎn sài jié guǒ wèi dìng, dà jiā dōu hěn jǐn zhāng.
The competition results are uncertain, and everyone is nervous.
。
Zhè xiàng zhèng cè de shí shī shí jiān shàng wèi dìng.
The implementation date of this policy remains to be determined.

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.

未wèinot yet

“未” says not yet, and “定” says fixed, so something is undecided.

Characters in this word

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

The shape 未 shows a tree with extra branches spreading above its trunk, like lush, overlapping limbs.

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

宀宀mián

Sound part声符shēngfú

正

正zhèng定dìng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

定 is built from 宀 and 正, with 正 supplying the sound.

Appears in

Abstract Concepts

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