先天不足 (xiān tiān bù zú) — inherent deficiency; congenital defect; inborn weakness (also used figuratively)

Definition

An idiom meaning a built-in or congenital flaw — originally medical, now widely used figuratively for projects, theories, or systems that start out deficient.

idiom
inherent deficiencycongenital defectinborn weakness (also used figuratively)

Examples

  • 先天不足，。
    Zhè ge xiàng mù cóng yì kāi jiù xiān tiān bù zú, hěn nán chéng gōng.
    This project had inherent deficiencies from the start, so it's hard to succeed.
  • 先天不足，。
    Tā de shēn tǐ xiān tiān bù zú, suǒ yǐ jīng cháng shēng bìng.
    His body has an inborn weakness, so he often gets sick.
  • 先天不足，。
    Zhè ge lǐ lùn xiān tiān bù zú, wú fǎ jiě shì suǒ yǒu xiàn xiàng.
    This theory has inherent flaws and cannot explain all phenomena.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

先天inborn
先xiānbefore天tiānheaven/day
偏正Modifier + head
不足not enough
不bùnot足zúenough
偏正Modifier + head

先天 refers to the inborn condition, and 不足 means not enough; together it describes an inherent weakness.

Characters in this word

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

先 combines 止 (foot) and 儿 (person) to show someone moving forward.

Open 先 →

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 →

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

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

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

足 was originally drawn as a leg.

Open 足 →

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