晴天

• Reading: せいてん
• Romaji: seiten
• Kanji breakdown: 晴 (sei) — clear, fine weather; 天 (ten) — sky, heaven
• Pronunciation: /seː.teɴ/

Meaning

Fine weather; clear sky; fair weather. A day with little or no cloud cover.

A noun used to describe weather with clear skies and sunshine. More formal and literary than 晴れ (hare, sunny). Often appears in weather forecasts, formal writing, and set expressions. The compound 晴天続き (seiten-tsuzuki) means a spell of fine weather. Also used in the proverb-like expression 晴天の霹靂 (seiten no hekireki, a bolt from the blue — a completely unexpected event).

Examples

1. 明日は晴天が予想されています。 Clear skies are expected tomorrow.
2. 晴天に恵まれ、運動会は無事に開催された。 Blessed with fine weather, the sports day went off without a hitch.
3. 三日間の晴天のあと、急に雨が降り出した。 After three days of sunny weather, it suddenly started raining.

Usage Guide

Context: weather forecasts, outdoor events, formal writing

Tone: neutral

Origin & History

From Sino-Japanese: 晴 (sei, clear/fine) + 天 (ten, sky/heaven). Literally 'clear sky' — describing ideal weather conditions.

Cultural Context

Era: Classical

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal