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天启 (tiān qǐ) — revelation (divine or heavenly inspiration); apocalypse (the end of the world)

Definition

A 'revelation' or 'apocalypse' — a divine message that reveals truth, or the end-of-the-world event. In Chinese history it names an era (the Ming Tianqi reign, 1621–1627).

noun
revelation (divine or heavenly inspiration)apocalypse (the end of the world)

Examples

  • ，天启。
    Zài jī dū jiào zhōng, tiān qǐ shì zhǐ shì jiè de jié shù.
    In Christianity, the apocalypse refers to the end of the world.
  • 天启，。
    Tā jué de zì jǐ dé dào le tiān qǐ, míng bai le rén shēng de yì yì.
    He felt he had received a revelation and understood the meaning of life.
  • 天启。
    Míng cháo de tiān qǐ huáng dì zhī zài wèi le qī nián.
    The Ming dynasty's Tianqi Emperor only reigned for seven years.

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tiānheaven
启qǐopen/inspire

天 “heaven” + 启 “open/inspire” gives heavenly inspiration.

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 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 啟; 启 is its simplified writing.

For 启, the traditional form 啟 comes from an earlier shape with 戶 (door) and 又 (hand), showing a hand opening a door.

Open 启 →
Appears in
Religion & Belief

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