Chinese word

天

Pronunciation

Pinyintiān

Meaning

  • nounheaven

Example

人们向天祈祷。rén men xiàng tiān qí dǎo

People pray to heaven.

Illustration for 天 (heaven)

More examples

今天下雨。jīn tiān xià yǔ

It is raining today.

Core concept

The space above the ground, extended to the sky, heaven, weather, and the passing of a day.

Common phrases

  • 昨天zuó tiān

    yesterday

  • 今天jīn tiān

    today

  • 明天míng tiān

    tomorrow

  • 每天měi tiān

    every day

  • 两天liǎng tiān

    two days

Similar words

今天jīn tiān: Today, the day that is happening now.
明天míng tiān: The next day after today.
天气tiān qì: The condition of the air outside, such as its temperature, rain, or wind.
日rì: One day counted as a unit on a calendar.

Definition in Chinese

指覆盖在地面上方的空间（天空、穹苍），并引申为天气、上天或天地的概念，也可指一天这一时间单位。zhǐ fù gài zài dì miàn shàng fāng de kōng jiān tiān kōng qióng cāng bìng yǐn shēn wèi tiān qì shàng tiān huò tiān dì de gài niàn yě kě zhǐ yì tiān zhè yì shí jiān dān wèi

Word origin

天 (tiān, "sky; day") originally pictured the top of a person, then came to mean what is highest or above and later the sky, heaven, and a day.

Usage tips

  • In 今天 (jīntiān, "today") and 明天 (míngtiān, "tomorrow"), the shared final character means a day, so both are useful whole time words.

Other meanings

  • sunnoun
  • skynoun

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word