鼎 (dǐng): ancient cooking cauldron with two looped handles and three or four legs, pot (dialect), to enter upon a period of (classical)
鼎 (dǐng) is a Chinese character meaning “ancient cooking cauldron with two looped handles and three or four legs.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 目 (structural). It ranks #2286 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically pictographic, 鼎 a cauldron on its bronze tripod. Its radical form 鼎 (tripod) appears in many related characters.
Definitions
- ancient cooking cauldron with two looped handles and three or four legs
- pot (dialect)
- to enter upon a period of (classical)
Etymology & Origin
pictographicA cauldron on its bronze tripod
Stroke Order
Practice writing 鼎 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 大名鼎鼎phrase | dà míng dǐng dǐng | grand reputation |
| 鼎盛adjective | dǐng shèng | thriving |
| 问鼎verb | wèn dǐng | to aspire to the throne |
| 鼎立verb | dǐng lì | lit. to stand like the three legs of a tripod |
| 鼎力相助phrase | dǐng lì xiāng zhù | We are most grateful for your valuable assistance. |
| 一言九鼎phrase | yī yán jiǔ dǐng | one word worth nine sacred tripods (idiom) |
| 人声鼎沸phrase | rén shēng dǐng fèi | lit. a boiling cauldron of voices (idiom) |
| 三足鼎立phrase | sān zú dǐng lì | (idiom) to form a tripartite balance of power |
| 问鼎中原 | wèn dǐng zhōng yuán | to plan to seize power of the whole country (idiom) |
| 问鼎轻重 | wèn dǐng qīng zhòng | lit. to inquire whether the tripods are light or heavy (idiom) |
| 三权鼎立noun | sān quán dǐng lì | separation of powers |
| 鼎足之势phrase | dǐng zú zhī shì | competition between three rivals |
| 鼎盛时期 | dǐng shèng shí qī | flourishing period |
| 染指于鼎 | rǎn zhǐ yú dǐng | lit. dip one's finger in the tripod (idiom) |
| 革故鼎新phrase | gé gù dǐng xīn | to discard the old and introduce the new (idiom) |
鼎 appears in 43 compound words: 53 as the first character, 14 as the last, and 33 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 鼎 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (13)
lit. dip one's finger in the tripod (idiom); fig. to get one's finger in the pie; to get a share of the action
lit. dip one's finger in the tripod (idiom); fig. to get one's finger in the pie; to get a share of the action
Showing 12 of 13 idioms containing 鼎.
Example Sentences
这个鼎字在古汉语中有不同的含义。
zhè gě dǐng zì zài gǔ hàn yǔ zhōng yǒu bù tóng de hán yì .
The character "鼎" carries different meanings in classical Chinese.
再鼎医药(09688)去年第四季亏损降至50...
zài dǐng yī yào ( 0 9 6 8 8 ) qù nián dì sì jì kuī sǔn jiàng zhì 5 0 . . .
Zai Lab (09688) lost money in the fourth quarter of last year to 50...
...演惊喊“像挖到黄金”!《哈姆奈特》强势问鼎奥斯卡8项大奖
. . . yǎn jīng hǎn xiàng wā dào huáng jīn ! hā mǔ nài tè qiáng shì wèn dǐng ào sī kǎ 8 xiàng dà jiǎng
... Acting exclaimed, "It's like digging gold"! "Hamnet" won 8 Oscars
生于战乱 日军纪念品 变故宫博爱大鼎
shēng yú zhàn luàn rì jūn jì niàn pǐn biàn gù gōng bó ài dà dǐng
Born in the war, Japanese souvenirs turned into the Forbidden City fraternity cauldron
虚拟三地大鼎展柜 揭博物馆政治
xū nǐ sān dì dà dǐng zhǎn guì jiē bó wù guǎn zhèng zhì
The virtual three-place Dading display cabinet reveals the politics of the museum
中原、台师大双箭齐发 收6连胜问鼎冠军
zhōng yuán , tái shī dà shuāng jiàn qí fā shōu 6 lián shèng wèn dǐng guàn jūn
Central Plains and Taiwan Normal University won 6 consecutive victories to win the championship
感谢你的鼎力支持。
Gǎnxiè nǐ de dǐnglì zhīchí.
Thank you for your strong support.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 鼎 (dǐng) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 鼎 have?
What is the radical of 鼎?
What are the components of 鼎?
What are common words containing 鼎?
What characters sound the same as 鼎 (dǐng)?
Is 鼎 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 鼎 with real-time feedback
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