Meaning of 天下
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- land under heaven
- the whole world
- the whole of China
- realm
- rule
How to use 天下
天下 is a formal or literary word for the whole world, or historically the whole of China as a realm to be ruled. It shows up often in idioms, history, and set phrases. Example: 天下没有不散的筵席。(Tiānxià méiyǒu bù sàn de yánxí.) There is no banquet in the world that never ends.
天 (tiān) is the sky and 下 (xià) means below, so 天下 is everything that lies under the sky. Picture yourself looking up at the sky and realizing the whole world is spread out beneath it.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes use 天下 in everyday speech where 世界 (shìjiè) is the normal word, such as saying 我想去天下旅行, which sounds odd. Use 世界 for the modern, neutral idea of the world and keep 天下 for literary, historical, or idiomatic contexts.
天下 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
天 tiān · day · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
下 xià · down · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
Related words
Words that share a character with 天下.
| 今天 | jīntiān | today; the present time; now |
| 明天 | míngtiān | tomorrow |
| 坐下 | zuò xia | to sit down |
| 昨天 | zuótiān | yesterday |
| 下次 | xià cì | next time |
| 下午 | xiàwǔ | afternoon; p.m. |
| 下车 | xià chē | to get off or out of (a bus, train, car etc) |
| 天气 | tiānqì | weather |
| 楼下 | lóu xià | downstairs |
| 下班 | xiàbān | to finish work; to get off work; next service (train, bus etc) |
| 白天 | báitiān | daytime; during the day |
| 下雨 | xià yǔ | to rain |
Questions about 天下
What does 天下 mean?
天下 (tiānxià) means "land under heaven; the whole world" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 天下?
天下 is made of 2 characters: 天 (4 strokes), 下 (3 strokes). That is 7 strokes in total.
Is 天下 an HSK word?
Yes. 天下 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 打天下 mean?
打天下 (dǎ tiānxià) means to conquer the realm or win power by fighting, as founders of dynasties did. Today it is also used loosely for building a business or career from nothing.
Is 天下 the same as 天下第一?
No. 天下 is the noun for the world or realm, while 天下第一 (tiānxià dì yī) is a phrase meaning number one in the world or the very best. It is common in martial arts stories and in casual boasting.