DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

後天

简后天 · 繁後天

Mandarin · pinyin hòu tiān

the day after tomorrow
life after birth (the period in which one develops through experiences, contrasted with 先天 xiān tiān)
acquired (not innate or congenital)
a posteriori

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

後: hòu · behind, rear, after; descendents
天: tiān · sky, heaven; god, celestial
后: hòu · queen, empress, sovereign; (simp. for 後) behind, rear, after

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–1 · hou4 tian1

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

3character links1source reference

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

後天 · find source passages ↗ · 后天 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hau6 tin1

Cantonese word readings for 後天. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

noun

day after tomorrow
nurture (as opposed to nature)

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack