格 物 致 知

gé wù zhì zhīdictionary entry

to study the underlying principle to acquire knowledge (idiom) / pursuing knowledge to the end

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-5a8ef0f3cca4b534. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

格物致知 格物致知 [ge2 wu4 zhi4 zhi1] /to study the underlying principle to acquire knowledge (idiom); pursuing knowledge to the end/

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.

格
gē
used in 格登[gē dēng] / used in 格格[gē gē]
gé
square / lattice / grid / frame / compartment / partition / slot (within a larger unit) / (bound form) standard / norm / specification / (bound form) character / disposition / moral quality / style / aesthetic tone / (bound form) rhetorical form / stylistic pattern / (bound form) (linguistics) grammatical case / (literary) to correct / to rectify / (literary) to arrive at / to reach / (literary) to obstruct / to hinder / (literary) to investigate exhaustively / classifier for compartments, slots or cells within a larger unit
物
wù
(bound form) thing / (literary) the outside world as distinct from oneself / people other than oneself
致
zhì
(bound form) fine / delicate / exquisite / (literary) to send / to transmit / to convey / (bound form) to cause / to lead to / consequently
知
zhī
to know / to be aware

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.