tiān gāndictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
the 10 heavenly stems 甲[jiǎ], 乙[yǐ], 丙[bǐng], 丁[dīng], 戊[wù], 己[jǐ], 庚[gēng], 辛[xīn], 壬[rén], 癸[guǐ], used cyclically in the calendar and as ordinal numbers I, II etc
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-86b6c63c93073678. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

天干 天干 [tian1 gan1] /the 10 heavenly stems 甲[jia3], 乙[yi3], 丙[bing3], 丁[ding1], 戊[wu4], 己[ji3], 庚[geng1], 辛[xin1], 壬[ren2], 癸[gui3], used cyclically in the calendar and as ordinal numbers I, II etc/

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.

  • 天
    tiān

    day / sky / heaven

  • 干
    gān

    dry / dried food / empty / hollow / taken in to nominal kinship / adoptive / foster / futile / in vain / (dialect) rude / blunt / (dialect) to cold-shoulder / (bound form) to have to do with / to concern oneself with / one of the ten heavenly stems 天干[tiān gān] / (archaic) shield

    gàn

    tree trunk / main part of sth / to manage / to work / to do / capable / cadre / to kill (slang) / to fuck (vulgar) / (coll.) pissed off / annoyed

    Gān

    surname Gan

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.