天下
Chinese
day; sky; heaven | under; next; lower; below; underneath; down(wards); to go down; latter | ||
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simp. and trad. (天下) |
天 | 下 | |
Literally: “under heaven”. |
Etymology
See All under Heaven.
Pronunciation
Noun
天下
- (figuratively) the world; everything under the sky; all under heaven
- 天下莫大於秋豪之末,而大山為小;莫壽於殤子,而彭祖為夭。天地與我並存,而萬物與我為一。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
- From: c. 369 BCE – 286 BCE, 莊子 (Zhuangzi), 齊物論 (The Identity of Contraries)
- Tiānxià mò dàyú qiūháo zhī mò, ér dàshān wéi xiǎo; mò shòuyú shāngzǐ, ér Péngzǔ wéi yāo. Tiāndì yǔ wǒ bìngcún, ér wànwù yǔ wǒ wèi yī. [Pinyin]
- There is nothing under the canopy of heaven greater than the tip of an autumn spikelet. A vast mountain is a small thing. Neither is there any age greater than that of a child cut off in infancy. P'êng Tsu himself died young. The universe and I came into being together; and I, and everything therein, are One.
天下莫大于秋豪之末,而大山为小;莫寿于殇子,而彭祖为夭。天地与我并存,而万物与我为一。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
- (lofty) China; the Chinese nation
- (figuratively) state power; domination
Synonyms
- (the world): (Min Nan) 天跤下
Derived terms
Derived terms from 天下
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Descendants
- → Manchu: ᠠᠪᡴᠠᡳ
ᡶᡝᠵᡝᡵᡤᡳ (abkai fejergi) (calque)
Japanese
Etymology 1
Kanji in this term | |
---|---|
天 | 下 |
てん Grade: 1 |
か Grade: 1 |
on’yomi |
From Middle Chinese 天下 (MC tʰen ɦˠaX, “heaven + under”). The kan'on, so likely a later borrowing.[1]
Noun
天下 (hiragana てんか, rōmaji tenka)
- the whole world, the earth
- the whole country, all of Japan
- the government of Japan
- power, control over the government
- (historical, Edo period) the shogun
- (card games) in traditional Japanese card games, one of the strong cards known as 蠣 (aza)
- short for 天下一 (tenka ichi): the best in the world (often used attributively with the particle の (no))
- 天下の横綱
- tenka no yokozuna
- the best yokozuna in the world
- 天下の横綱
Etymology 2
Kanji in this term | |
---|---|
天 | 下 |
てん Grade: 1 |
げ Grade: 1 |
on’yomi |
From Middle Chinese 天下 (MC tʰen ɦˠaX, “heaven + under”). The go'on, so likely the earlier borrowing.[1]
Appears with this reading in the Kagerō Nikki, dating to roughly 974 CE.[2] Superseded in modern Japanese by tenka above.
Related terms
See also
References
- 1988, 国語大辞典(新装版) (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
- 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
- 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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