宿命
Meaning in Englishfate, destiny, predestination
Animated kanji stroke order
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)