天意 (tiān yì) — Heaven's will, fate, destiny | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

天意 (tiān yì) means 'Heaven's will' — fate or destiny as decided by a higher power, rather than by human choice. It carries a religious or literary tone, unlike neutral words like 命运.

noun

Heaven's willfatedestiny

Examples

天意。
Zhè yí qiè dōu shì tiān yì.
All of this is Heaven's will.
天意。
Rén men cháng shuō tiān yì bù kě wéi.
People often say that Heaven's will cannot be defied.
天意，。
tiān yì Rú cǐ, wǒ men zhǐ néng jiē shòu.
Heaven's will is like this; we can only accept it.

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 (heaven) and 意 (will) combine for the will believed to come from heaven.

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

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.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in

Religion & Belief

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