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命 (mìng) — life; fate, destiny; order, command

Definition

命 is a short, formal noun covering 'life', 'fate', or 'order/command' (as in 命令). For 'fate' it overlaps with 命运 but sounds literary; 缘分 is about people-bound fate, not a noun you swap in freely.

noun
lifefatedestinyordercommand

Examples

  • 命。
    Rén de mìng zhǐ yǒu yí cì.
    A person only has one life.
  • 命，。
    Wǒ bù xiāng xìn mìng, wǒ zhī xiāng xìn zì jǐ.
    I don't believe in fate; I only believe in myself.
  • 。
    Tā jiē dào le shàng jí de mìng lìng.
    He received an order from his superiors.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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.

Appears in
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