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Chinese Character/Word:

Definition(s) for: 燕雀安知鸿鹄之志

Hanzi Pinyin Definition(s)
燕雀安知鸿鹄之志 yàn què ān zhī hóng hú zhī zhì - lit. can the sparrow and swallow know the will of the great swan? (idiom)
- fig. how can we small fry predict the ambitions of the great?

List Ranking:

Where rank 1 is most common, and higher numbers are less common.

HSK 2 Level (2012) HSK 3 Band (2022) SUBTLEX-CH BeijingUni Global BeijingUni Weibo
- - - - 82,989

Individual Character Breakdown:

Simp Pinyin Eng
yān- Yan, a vassal state of Zhou in present-day Hebei and Liaoning
- north Hebei
- the four Yan kingdoms of the Sixteen Kingdoms, namely: Former Yan 前燕[Qian2 Yan1] (337-370), Later Yan 後燕|后燕[Hou4 Yan1] (384-409), Southern Yan 南燕[Nan2 Yan1] (398-410), Northern Yan 北燕[Bei3 Yan1] (409-436)
- surname Yan
yàn- swallow (family Hirundinidae)
- old variant of 宴[yan4]
yàn- variant of 燕[yan4]
qiāo- a freckle
- lentigo
què- (bound form) small bird
- sparrow
- also pr. [qiao3]
Ān- surname An
ān- (bound form) calm; peaceful
- to calm; to set at ease
- safe; secure; in good health
- content; satisfied (as in 安於|安于[an1yu2])
- to place (sb) in a suitable position (job)
- to install; to fix; to fit
- to bring (a charge against sb)
- to harbor (certain intentions)
- ampere (abbr. for 安培[an1pei2])
zhī- to know
- to be aware
鸿 hóng- eastern bean goose
- great
- large
- center or bull's eye of an archery target (old)
- goal
- target
- swan
zhī- (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5])
- him
- her
- it
zhì- aspiration
- ambition
- the will
zhì- sign
- mark
- to record
- to write a footnote

Other Words Containing 燕雀安知鸿鹄之志

Sorted by the 'SUBTLEX-CH' rank because that seems like the most reliable. Words without a SUBTLEX-CH rank are ignored for being too rare.

Word HSK 2 Level (2012) HSK 3 Band (2022) SUBTLEX-CH BeijingUni Global BeijingUni Weibo