Dictionary › 先天

先天

xiān tiān

HSK 3.0 level 7-9 2-character word

先天 (xiān tiān) means "embryonic period (contrasted with 后天 [hòu tiān]); inborn; innate". It is an HSK 3.0 level 7-9 word, and was not on the old six-level HSK list.

What 先天 means

1. embryonic period (contrasted with {后天|hòu tiān})
2. inborn; innate; natural

The characters in 先天

• 先xiānbeforehand; first; earlier; at first; originally; for the time being; for now
• 天tiānday; sky; heaven

Example sentences

• 脑损伤是先天的。
  Nǎosǔnshāng shì xiāntiān de.
  The brain damage was congenital.
• 比起南方， 北京的先天不算热
  Compared to south, summer in Beijing isn't really hot.

Words starting with 先天

• 先天性xiān tiān xìngcongenital; intrinsic; innate
• 先天不足xiān tiān bù zúto suffer from a congenital deficiency; to have an inherent weakness
• 先天与后天xiān tiān yǔ hòu tiānnature versus nurture
• 先天性缺陷xiān tiān xìng quē xiànbirth defect
• 先天愚型xiān tiān yú xíng(old) Down syndrome; trisomy 21
• 先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐xiān tiān xià zhī yōu ér yōu , hòu tiān xià zhī lè ér lèto be the first to worry about affairs of state, and the last to enjoy oneself…
• 先天不足，后天失调xiān tiān bù zú , hòu tiān shī tiáoto be born with a weak constitution and suffer from ill health during one's life…

Go deeper

• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read xiān tiān correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.