DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

本性難移

简本性难移 · 繁本性難移

Mandarin · pinyin běn xìng nán yí

It is hard to change one's essential nature (idiom). You can't change who you are.
Can the leopard change his spots? (Jeremiah 13:23)

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

本: běn · root, origin, source; basis
性: xìng · nature, character, sex
難: Look up this written character
移: yí · change place, shift; move about
难: nán · difficult, arduous, hard; unable

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

3–4–2–2 · ben3 xing4 nan2 yi2

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character links

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.

本性難移 · find source passages ↗ · 本性难移 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bun2 sing3 naan4 ji4

Cantonese word readings for 本性難移. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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