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盖棺论定

gài guān lùn dìngdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
don't pass judgment on a person's life until the lid is on the coffin (idiom)
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-aa52c85dd48b8357. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

蓋棺論定 盖棺论定 [gai4 guan1 lun4 ding4] /don't pass judgment on a person's life until the lid is on the coffin (idiom)/

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: 蓋棺論定

  • 盖
    gài

    lid / top / cover / canopy / to cover / to conceal / to build

    Gě

    surname Ge

  • 棺
    guān

    coffin

  • 论
    lùn

    opinion / view / theory / doctrine / to discuss / to talk about / to regard / to consider / per / by the (kilometer, hour etc)

    Lún

    abbr. for 論語|论语[Lún yǔ], The Analects (of Confucius)

  • 定
    dìng

    to fix / to set / to make definite / to subscribe to (a newspaper etc) / to book (tickets etc) / to order (goods etc) / to congeal / to coagulate / (literary) definitely

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.