English Explanatory Dictionary

earthly branch

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. One of the twelve terms used in East Asian cultures to represent
  2. The (approximately) twelve years of Jupiter's orbital period, forming the Chinese zodiac and personified as twelve or sixty gods known as Tai Sui.
  3. The twelve animals representing the Chinese zodiac, (particularly) as a birthyear.
  4. The twelve months of the Chinese lunar year.
  5. The twelve bearings of traditional Chinese navigation, comprising 30° divisions of the compass beginning with due north.
  6. The duodecimal divisions of the Chinese seasons, beginning with the second of the three divisions of winter.
  7. The duodecimal divisions of the day into "Chinese" or "double hours", beginning with 11 pm.
  8. The exact time at the middle of a "Chinese" or "double hour", beginning with midnight.

Word forms

earthly branch earthly branches

Etymology

Calque of Chinese 地支 (dìzhī)

Synonyms

terrestrial branch

Translations

Catalan: branca terrestre Chinese Mandarin: 地支 Chinese Mandarin: 十二支 Finnish: maallinen oksa French: branche terrestre German: Erdzweig Japanese: 地支 Japanese: 十二支 Korean: 지지 Korean: 십이지 Manchu: ᡤᠠᡵᡤᠠᠨ Manchu: ᠵᡠᠸᠠᠨ ᠵᡠᠸᡝ ᡤᠠᡵᡤᠠᠨ Polish: ziemska gałąź Russian: земна́я ветвь Spanish: ramas terrenales Spanish: ramas terrestres Vietnamese: địa chi Zhuang: deihcei
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