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天機

简天机 · 繁天機

Mandarin · pinyin tiān jī

mystery known only to heaven (archaic)
inscrutable twist of fate
fig. top secret

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Characters in this entry

天: tiān · sky, heaven; god, celestial
機: Look up this written character
机: jī · desk; machine; moment

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–1 · tian1 ji1

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

天機 · find source passages ↗ · 天机 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

mystery only known to Heaven; God's design; inscrutable twist of fate
(figurative) top secret
(obsolete) unworldly cast of mind; heavenly insight / intuition

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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