T'ien
name ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A surname from Mandarin.
- 2 Alternative form of Tian (“Heaven, God”). Chinese, alt-of, alternative
"Confucius had a lively faith in T’ien and that faith was the ultimate source of his greatness. For one thing, that faith convinced him that one’s happiness depends upon the approval of T’ien rather than the praises of men, upon one’s interior qualities rather than external things. Once he said, “I do not murmur against T’ien, nor grumble against men. My studies lie low, but my penetration rises high. T’ien alone knows me.”²⁰"
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"Confucius had a lively faith in T’ien and that faith was the ultimate source of his greatness. For one thing, that faith convinced him that one’s happiness depends upon the approval of T’ien rather than the praises of men, upon one’s interior qualities rather than external things. Once he said, “I do not murmur against T’ien, nor grumble against men. My studies lie low, but my penetration rises high. T’ien alone knows me.”²⁰"
Etymology
From Mandarin 田 (Tián) Wade–Giles romanization: Tʻien².
From Mandarin 天 (Tiān), Wade–Giles romanization: Tʻien¹.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.