Chinese word

占卜

Pronunciation

Pinyinzhān bǔ

Meaning

  • verbtell the future

Example

她会用塔罗牌来占卜未来。tā huì yòng tǎ luó pái lái zhān bǔ wèi lái

She uses tarot cards to tell the future.

Illustration for 占卜 (tell the future)

More examples

她常通过梦境来占卜自己的运势。tā cháng tōng guò mèng jìng lái zhān bǔ zì jǐ de yùn shì

She often uses dreams to tell her own fortune.

Core concept

A sign-reading method that looks ahead to possible fortune or misfortune.

Common phrases

  • 为自己占卜wèi zì jǐ zhān bǔ

    tell one's own fortune

  • 用梦境占卜yòng mèng jìng zhān bǔ

    use dreams to tell fortunes

  • 占卜吉凶zhān bǔ jí xiōng

    divine good and bad fortune

Similar words

算命suàn mìng: Tells a person's fortune and life trends from their birth year or time.
预测yù cè: Predicts a future outcome by using evidence and reasonable judgment.
推测tuī cè: Works out a likely fact or result from available clues and circumstances.
看相kàn xiàng: Judges a person's fortune or personality from their appearance or palm.

Definition in Chinese

用特定方法或工具根据征兆推测事物的吉凶或未来。yòng tè dìng fāng fǎ huò gōng jù gēn jù zhēng zhào tuī cè shì wù de jí xiōng huò wèi lái

Word origin

The word combines 占 (zhān, "to divine") + 卜 (bǔ, "to divine"), joining two traditional terms for seeking answers from signs.

Usage tips

  • In everyday Chinese, 占卜 (zhānbǔ, "fortune-telling") can sound formal or bookish, while casual speech often names the particular practice instead.

Other meanings

  • fortune-tellingnoun
  • divinationnoun

Related words

  • 占卜者zhān bǔ zhěfortune-tellernoun
  • 占卜学zhān bǔ xuéstudy of divinationnoun

Word lists with this word