定 (dìng): to decide, fixed

定 (dìng) is a Chinese character meaning “to decide, fixed.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 宀 (structural) and 疋 (structural). It ranks #77 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 定 a person 疋 settling under a roof 宀. Its radical form 宀 (roof) appears in many related characters such as 客 (kè, guest, customer), 家 (jiā, home, family), 它 (tā, it).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to decide, fixed

Etymology & Origin

定

ideographicA person 疋 settling under a roof 宀

Decomposition: ⿱宀疋 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Practice writing 定 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 定

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
一定adjective/adverbyī dìngsurely3
肯定verb/adjective/adverbkěn dìngto be certain4
决定verb/nounjué dìngto decide3
确定adjective/verbquè dìngdefinite5
规定verb/nounguī dìngto stipulate4
稳定adjective/verbwěn dìngsteady5
说不定verb/adverbshuō bu dìngcan't say for sure5
定位verb/noundìng wèito orientate6
固定verbgù dìngto fix5
约定verbyuē dìngto agree on sth (after discussion)5
定义noun/verbdìng yìdefinition6
预定verbyù dìngto arrange in advance6
认定verbrèn dìngto maintain (that sth is true)6
指定verbzhǐ dìngto appoint6
鉴定verb/nounjiàn dìngto examine sth to determine its authenticity, quality, value etc6
制定verbzhì dìngto draw up5
坚定adjective/verbjiān dìngfirm6
特定adjectivetè dìngspecial6
否定verb/adjectivefǒu dìngto negate5
法定adjectivefǎ dìngstatutory6
定期verb/adjectivedìng qīat set dates5
定制verbdìng zhìcustom-made6
定时verb/noundìng shíto fix a time6
定价verb/noundìng jiàto set a price6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
注定verbzhù dìngto foreordain
锁定verbsuǒ dìngto lock (a door)
镇定adjectivezhèn dìngcalm
定罪verbdìng zuìto convict (sb of a crime)
设定verbshè dìngto set
安定adjectiveān dìngstable
协定nounxié dìngagreement
定下dìng xiàto set (the tone, a target etc)
假定verbjiǎ dìngto assume
下定决心xià dìng jué xīnto make a firm resolution
必定adverbbì dìngto be bound to
108
Total compounds
34
As first character
62
As last character
4
As middle character

定 appears in 108 compound words: 34 as the first character, 62 as the last, and 4 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 定 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

稳wěn
0.58646,690 co-occurrences
决jué
0.561156,368 co-occurrences
规guī
0.55981,478 co-occurrences
义yì
0.51170,392 co-occurrences
固gù
0.49876,578 co-occurrences
图tú
0.49566,276 co-occurrences
确què
0.49162,627 co-occurrences
奠diàn
0.47414,749 co-occurrences
指zhǐ
0.46189,674 co-occurrences
居jū
0.44354,446 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (34)

安邦定国ānbāngdìngguóHSK 7+

to bring peace and stability to a country

phrase
把持不定bǎ chí bù dìngHSK 3+

indecisive (idiom)

phrase
不定冠词bùdìng guàncíHSK 5+

indefinite article

noun
尘埃落定chén'āiluòdìng

to be finalised; to get sorted out

phrase
晨昏定省chén hūn dìng xǐngHSK 7+

morning and evening visits to parents; cf 昏定晨省

phrase
定期存款dìngqī cúnkuǎnHSK 5+

time deposit

noun
定时炸弹dìngshí zhàdànHSK 5+

time bomb

noun
定于一尊dìngyúyīzūnHSK 4+

to regard the supreme authority as the only standard

phrase
盖棺定论gàiguāndìnglùnHSK 7+

to judge the accomplishments and faults of a person after their death; to reach a final decision or conclusion

phrase
盖棺论定gàiguānlùndìngHSK 7+

to judge the accomplishments and faults of a person after their death; to reach a final decision or conclusion

phrase
固定词组gù dìng cí zǔHSK 5+

set phrase

phrase
固定收入gù dìng shōu rùHSK 5+

fixed income

phrase

Showing 12 of 34 idioms containing 定.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

会议时间定在下周三上午十点,请大家准时参加。

Huìyì shíjiān dìng zài xià zhōusān shàngwǔ shí diǎn, qǐng dàjiā zhǔnshí cānjiā.

The meeting is scheduled for next Wednesday at 10 AM; please attend on time.

News For ChineseFeb 2026

“民歌50”唱进湾区,共赴岁月的约定

mín gē 5 0 chàng jìn wān qū , gòng fù suì yuè de yuē dìng

"Folk Song 50" sung into the Bay Area and went to the agreement of the years

東方日報Feb 2026

强词有理:中国最淡定

qiáng cí yǒu lǐ : zhōng guó zuì dàn dìng

The strong words are reasonable: China is the calmest

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

...加征15%关税立即生效 全球贸易重返不确定性时代

. . . jiā zhēng 1 5 guān shuì lì jí shēng xiào quán qiú mào yì chóng fǎn bù què dìng xìng shí dài

... The 15% tariff will take effect immediately, and global trade will return to an era of uncertainty

百度新闻Feb 2026

...江宁春节再传佳讯!全球首款轻量化肝脏脂肪定量检..

. . . jiāng nìng chūn jié zài chuán jiā xùn ! quán qiú shǒu kuǎn qīng liáng huā gān zāng zhī fáng dìng liáng jiǎn . .

Jiangning Delivers More Good News for Spring Festival! World's First Lightweight Liver Fat Quantification Device...

百度新闻Feb 2026

永定河山峡段4座梯级水电站累计发电破100亿...

yǒng dìng hé shān xiá duàn zuò tī jí shuǐ diàn zhàn lěi jì fā diàn pò yì . . .

Cumulative power generation from the four cascade hydropower stations along the Yongding River's mountainous gorge section has surpassed 10 billion kilowatt-hours...

Tatoeba

我为什么一定要那么做?

Wǒ wèishénme yīdìngyào nàme zuò?

Why do I have to do that?

Tatoeba

我能预定一下打高尔夫球吗?

Wǒ néng yùdìng yīxià dǎgāo'ěrfūqiú ma?

Can I make a reservation for golf?

Tatoeba

这封信一定要用英文写吗?

Zhè fēng xìn yīdìngyào yòng Yīngwén xiě ma?

Must this letter be written in English?

Tatoeba

你决定去日本了吗?

Nǐ juédìng qù Rìběn le ma?

Did you decide to go to Japan?

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced dìng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 定 (dìng) mean in Chinese?
定 (dìng) primarily means "to decide, fixed." It is classified as HSK Level 3, making it a beginner-level character. It ranks #77 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 定 have?
定 is written with 8 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 定?
The radical associated with 定 is 宀 (roof). This radical appears in many characters related to roof.
What are the components of 定?
定 is composed of: 宀 (structural), 疋 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱宀疋 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 定?
Common words with 定 include: 一定 (yī dìng, "surely"); 肯定 (kěn dìng, "to be certain"); 决定 (jué dìng, "to decide"); 确定 (què dìng, "definite"); 规定 (guī dìng, "to stipulate"). There are over 108 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 定 (dìng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation dìng: 顶 (apex), 订 (to agree), 丁 (male adult), 盯 (to stare at), and 3 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 定 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 定 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 定 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.