天年 (tiān nián) — natural life span; one's allotted years; (literary) year's harvest; fortune of the year

Definition

Literary term for one's natural life span (the years fate allots you). Distinct from 实年 (actual age) — 天年 emphasizes the fated, full term of life. In older/poetic use it can also mean a year's harvest.

noun
natural life spanone's allotted years(literary) year's harvestfortune of the year

Examples

  • ，天年。
    Tā yì shēng xíng shàn, zuì hòu ān xiǎng tiān nián.
    He did good deeds all his life and finally enjoyed his natural life span in peace.
  • ，天年。
    Jīn nián fēng tiáo yǔ shùn, tiān nián bú cuò.
    This year the weather has been favorable, so the harvest is good.
  • ，天年。
    Lǎo rén huó dào jiǔ shí duō suì, suàn shì jìn le tiān nián.
    The old man lived to over ninety, which can be considered fulfilling his natural life span.

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tiānnatural
年niányears

天 natural + 年 years: the natural span of years.

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 →

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
禾禾héwheat; grain
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén年nián
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

Open 年 →

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