定时
dìng shí · HSK 6
to fix a time
⏰ 定 = fix/set + 时 = time → set a time
定 means to fix or settle; 时 means time or hour. Together: a time that has been fixed or set in advance. Used for scheduled events, timers, and timed explosives — anything where the moment is pre-determined.
定 — roof 宀 + 正 (correct/upright, phonetic)
Originally written with 宀 (roof) over 正 (upright/correct), suggesting a household settled and orderly under its roof. Over time 正 simplified to 㐬-like form at the bottom, and the meaning shifted from 'settled home' to the broader senses of 'fix, stable, decide.'
时 — sun 日 + temple/measure 寺
Originally a phono-semantic compound: 日 (sun) gives the meaning of time or season, while 寺 (shí) supplies the sound. Early forms used 之 as the phonetic before 寺 replaced it. The core sense 'season, time, hour' has stayed stable since ancient Chinese.