四 大 发 明

sì dà fā míngdictionary entry

the Four Great Inventions (papermaking, printing, the compass, and gunpowder, traditionally regarded as the four major inventions of ancient China)

Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-1e34431e6ef35392. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

四大發明 四大发明 [si4 da4 fa1 ming2] /the Four Great Inventions (papermaking, printing, the compass, and gunpowder, traditionally regarded as the four major inventions of ancient China)/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 四大發明

四
sì
four / 4
大
dà
big / large / great / older (than another person) / eldest (as in 大姐[dà jiě]) / greatly / freely / fully / (dialect) father / (dialect) uncle (father's brother)
dài
see 大夫[dài fu]
发
fā
to send out / to show (one's feeling) / to issue / to develop / to make a bundle of money / classifier for gunshots (rounds)
fà
hair / Taiwan pr. [fǎ]
明
míng
bright / opposite: dark 暗[àn] / (of meaning) clear / to understand / next / public or open / wise / generic term for a sacrifice to the gods
Míng
Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) / surname Ming / Ming (c. 2000 BC), fourth of the legendary Flame Emperors, 炎帝[Yán dì] descended from Shennong 神農|神农[Shén nóng] Farmer God

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.