宿命
Meaning in Englishfate, destiny, predestination
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Word context
What it means
宿命 denotes an inescapable fate or destiny that is believed to be prewritten, shaping the course of a life or events and often carrying a sense of inevitability.
Main meanings
- Inevitability: a predetermined course of events that cannot be changed.
- Formal or literary sense: used in philosophical or narrative contexts to discuss destiny.
- Fatalistic nuance: carries a weight of doom or unavoidable consequence.
- Predestined life: life path seen as fixed from birth or before.
How to use it
Used in formal writing, philosophy, literature, and serious discourse to describe an inevitable destiny; less common in casual speech; often conveys a solemn or tragic nuance, appearing with verbs and adjectives that express inevitability or preordination.
Variants and close terms
- 運命 (unmei): fate, destiny.
- 天命 (tenmei): heavenly decree.
- 自由意志 (jiyuu-ishi): free will.
Composition
- 宿: fixed, settled; represents something that remains or endures, contributing the sense of a pre-set path.
- 命: life, fate; indicates life’s course or mandate, reinforcing inevitability.
Etymology
宿 + 命 combine to form the compound; the reading しゅくめい (shukumei) reflects a set of on'yomi pronunciations adapted into modern Japanese.
Origin
The concept entered Japanese usage through classical Chinese characters, taking on a predestination sense in Buddhist and literary traditions and becoming common in medieval and modern Japan.
Word class
noun (名詞)