天

🇹🇼🇭🇰🇨🇳🇯🇵🇰🇷

heaven

HSK 1 N4

tiān

テン

あまつ、あめ、あま-

천

Depicts a person (大) with an emphasized head. Based on the original meaning "head". The meaning later shifted to "top", "high", and "sky".

Components

◎ characterless component+ 大 big =

天 heaven

◎ Iconic component

characterless component

Depicts a head.

大 Iconic component

dà big

big, great, vast, large, high

Depicts a person.

Notes

Historical Evolution

Oracle

(~1250-1000 BC)

Oracle

(~1250-1000 BC)

Oracle

(~1250-1000 BC)

Bronze

Late Shang dynasty (~1100 BC)

Bronze

Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)

Bronze

Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)

Bronze

Late Spring and Autumn (~500 BC)

Bronze

Early Warring States (~400 BC)

Seal

Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal

Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical

Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

天

Regular

Modern

Chinese

天 [tiān]

day; sky; heaven

Japanese

天てん同音

noun

sky
Christianity heaven
God
Buddhism svarga (heaven-like realm visited as a stage of death and rebirth)
Buddhism deva (divine being of Buddhism)
top (of a book)
sole (of a Japanese sandal)
beginning; start
abbrev. tempura
abbrev.obsolete India

天あめ、あま同音

noun archaic sky

Example Sentences

🇯🇵 (2)

彼は天を仰いだ。

He looked up at the sky.

縁組は天でなされる。

Marriage is made in heaven.

Japanese Names

天あおぎ

Aogi female given name

天あま

Ama female given namesurname

天あまさき

Amasaki surname

天あまざき

Amazaki surname

天あまつ

Amatsu female given name

天あまね

Amane female given name

天あめ

Ame female given name

天そら

Sora female given name

天たかし

Takashi male given name

天てぃあら

Tiara female given name

天てしお

Teshio unclassified name

天てん

Ten female given name

天ひづる

Hizuru female given name

天ひろし

Hiroshi given name

CHINESE WORDS (200)

190 more items

JAPANESE WORDS (200)

190 more items

KOREAN WORDS (46)

bizarreness; amazement; extraordinariness

36 more items