需要是發明之母
简 需要是发明之母 · 繁 需要是發明之母Meanings
- Necessity is the mother of invention (European proverb).
Characters in this entry
- 需
- xū · need, require, must; hexagram ䷄
- 要
- yào · necessary, essential; necessity
- 是
- shì · indeed, yes, right; to be; demonstrative pronoun, this, that
- 發
- fā · issue, dispatch, send out, emit
- 明
- míng · bright, light, brilliant; clear
- 之
- zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
- 母
- mǔ · mother; female elders; female
- 发
- fā · issue, dispatch, send out; hair
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
1–4–4–1–2–1–3 · xu1 yao4 shi4 fa1 ming2 zhi1 mu3
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
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.
需要是發明之母 · find source passages ↗ · 需要是发明之母 · find source passages ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
seoi1 jiu3 si6 faat3 ming4 zi1 mou5
Cantonese word readings for 需要是發明之母. 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.
proverb
- necessity is the mother of invention
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack