DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

頤養天年

简颐养天年 · 繁頤養天年

Mandarin · pinyin yí yǎng tiān nián

lit. to nurture one's years (idiom)
fig. to enjoy one's later years

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

頤: Look up this written character
養: yǎng · raise, rear, bring up; support
天: tiān · sky, heaven; god, celestial
年: nián · year; new-years; person's age
颐: yí · cheeks; jaw; chin; rear; to nourish
养: yǎng · raise, rear, bring up; support

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

2–3–1–2 · yi2 yang3 tian1 nian2

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

5character 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.

頤養天年 · find source passages ↗ · 颐养天年 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ji4 joeng5 tin1 nin4

Cantonese word readings for 頤養天年. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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