yuè
moon; month
Meanings & readings
Meanings & dictionary uses
2 senses · 6 wordsThe moon and moonlight. These words describe what is seen in the sky, rather than a numbered calendar month.
A month, monthly period, or numbered month. A month name and a duration require different sentence patterns.
Languages & readings
Choose a recorded reading. Explore other varieties through their reference sources below.
Mandarin
Sense-linked readingsReadings & meanings
Usage scope
Regional and word-specific qualifications remain attached to the sense and vocabulary records.
Cantonese
Selected character readingSource & reading limitations
Jyutping · Unihan 17.0.0
This property supplies a customary character reading for collation and transliteration. It does not list every reading or identify the reading for each word and sense. It also does not encode a separate regional label for each value.
Other Chinese languages & varieties
Reference guides · character readings not yet imported.
Taiwanese Hokkien 臺灣台語Reference sources only
The Ministry of Education dictionary is the reference for Taiwanese vocabulary and readings. Its Tâi-lô guide distinguishes citation tones from changes in connected speech. Other Hokkien varieties require their own sources.
- Reference variety
- Taiwanese Hokkien, with the regional distinctions recorded by Taiwan's Ministry of Education
- Notation
- Tâi-lô (臺羅), as used by the linked MOE dictionary
Hakka 客語Reference sources only
Taiwan's Ministry of Education documents six Hakka varieties separately. Choose the variety before comparing readings; a single undifferentiated Hakka pronunciation would hide meaningful differences.
- Reference variety
- Taiwan: Sixian, Hailu, Dapu, Raoping, Zhao'an and Southern Sixian
- Notation
- Taiwan Hakka Romanization System (臺灣客語拼音方案)
Teochew 潮州話／潮汕話Reference sources only
Explore CUHK's published Chaozhou lexicon and its separate Shantou sound table. These reference locations remain explicit: readings from one locality should not stand in for every Teochew variety.
- Reference variety
- Chaozhou lexicon; separate Shantou syllable-table resource
- Notation
- Source phonetic transcription; no shared local romanization imported
Wu 吳語・上海話Reference sources only
The linked university resource documents Shanghai. Wu also includes other local varieties; Shanghai readings should retain that location label when compared with Mandarin or Cantonese.
- Reference variety
- Shanghai
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Eastern Min 閩東語・福州話Reference sources only
Fuzhou is an Eastern Min reference variety. Its dedicated CUHK sound table offers a starting point; other Eastern Min localities need distinct records and source attribution.
- Reference variety
- Fuzhou
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Gan 贛語・南昌話Reference sources only
Begin with CUHK's Nanchang sound table. The broader Gan group contains local differences, so future readings should identify Nanchang or another documented locality explicitly.
- Reference variety
- Nanchang
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Xiang 湘語・長沙話Reference sources only
Begin with CUHK's Changsha sound table. Keep Changsha separate from other Xiang localities when adding readings; the group name does not denote one uniform pronunciation.
- Reference variety
- Changsha
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese
Readings recorded for 月 in other language traditions. These are character-level records, not word translations or interchangeable pronunciations.
Japanese 日本語
Grouped by the source’s kana notation; no frequency ranking is implied.
On’yomi · katakana
Kun’yomi · hiragana
Katakana generally indicates on’yomi; hiragana generally indicates kun’yomi. The source does not identify everyday, rare, historical or name use per reading. Kana strings are preserved, including any written endings; consult a Japanese word entry for actual use.
Go deeperJisho ↗Wiktionary ↗
Korean 한국어
Hanja readings · Hangul
Source codes are separated below. They are neither sounds nor tones; a character reading alone does not specify a whole word’s pronunciation.
Go deeperNaver Hanja ↗Wiktionary ↗
Reading sources explained
- 월
- KS X 1001 (0) · Educational Hanja (E)
Vietnamese Tiếng Việt
Character readings · Quốc ngữ
Vietnamese readings associated with this Han character. This field alone does not establish word meanings, current usage, or a complete account of Hán-Nôm reading traditions.
Go deeperHán Việt (Thi Viện) ↗Wiktionary ↗
Form & structure
Structure & components
0 direct parts- Layout
- single
- Index radical
- 月 · 74 · 0 residual strokes
月 is treated as a whole component. Its lower opening and two short inner strokes distinguish its modern shape from the closed rectangle of 日. A component that looks like 月 must be identified in context: graphical resemblance alone does not decide whether a particular character belongs to a moon-related historical family.
Follow the recorded parts
recorded boundaryA boundary means no finer analysis is published here; it does not assert an indivisible unit. Radical classification and component structure are separate.
Inspect the component network ↗Writing
4 strokesModern stroke order; regional conventions can differ. [47]
Words & connections
Examples
2 sentences月光照在水面上。
Moonlight falls on the surface of the water.
我下個月去上海。
我下个月去上海。
I am going to Shanghai next month.
Original editorial sentences. Pinyin uses dictionary tones; connected speech may differ.
Connections
0 phonetic neighboursThis pilot does not link this character to a sound (phonetic) family. Explore the other recorded relationships below.
Follow this component
Reverse links to attributed component analyses. Open each character for its role, source and words. Shared components do not establish word ancestry.
History & distinctions
Etymology & evidence
2 accountsMoon and calendar
CUHK describes the oracle-bone and bronze forms as representations of a half moon and cites early uses for both the celestial body and months. It links the month sense to the cycle of waxing and waning. These are examples cited by the database, not a claim that the surviving examples establish the date when people first named months.
Related early shapes
The entry attributes to Qiu Xigui an account of differentiation between 月 and 夕 from earlier overlapping shapes. Their modern distinction should therefore be learned alongside, not substituted for, the historical discussion.
Reading this character · explanatory note
月 names both the moon and the month. 月亮 is the ordinary word for the moon; a number before 月 usually names a month, as in 一月, January. Duration works differently: 一個月 / 一个月 means one month. The connection is meaningful, but a modern calendar month is not simply the visible moon drawn on a page. CUHK interprets early 月 forms as crescent-like and connects the calendar sense with the moon’s cycle. When 月 appears inside another character, inspect that character separately: a similar-looking part does not always represent the moon.
Historical specimens remain at their sources. No dated attestation sequence or licensed specimen image is claimed.
Inspect CUHK’s forms and discussion ↗Forms & distinctions
The character 月 is shared by simplified and traditional writing. 月餅 / 月饼 changes only its second character. Modern Mandarin yuè remains the reading in both moon-related and calendar-related compounds; word context decides the sense. Regional conventions can affect neighboring characters and vocabulary without changing this encoded character.
CUHK’s 肉 entry describes historical convergence between flesh-related and moon-like shapes. Many body-related characters contain a 月-shaped form of 肉, not the moon. This is a historical distinction that a shape-only search cannot settle.
日 rì is sun or day; 月 yuè is moon or month. Their association in calendars does not make their meanings identical.
Historical readings
- Middle Chinese
- ngjwot · 魚厥 反切 · #3354
Guangyun-based transcriptions · PHONO-ML · CC BY 4.0. These describe historical reading categories, not modern word pronunciation.
Source row & reading categories
CSV line 17320 · ngjwot = 山合三入元疑
Automatically generated in the source dataset; the authors checked a subset and acknowledge possible errors. All source readings are retained separately. Notation & method ↗
Sources & reference
Sources & research
5 sourcesLocator & rights
形義通解, 略說 and 詳解; character entry · link_only · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
Release 2026-10-12T08:13:53Z. Exact word-reading locators are retained with each WordRecord. · permitted · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
形義通解, 略說 and 詳解; character entry · link_only · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
17.0.0 · permitted · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
bddc96d41bef78427ed0e034e9f7e31d71fd1b92 · permitted · 2026-10-12
Open research · 1 items
- Historical specimen images and their item-level dating have not been licensed or independently checked; follow the source link to inspect its evidence.
Cited claims compared with the consulted entries; no independent expert review recorded.
Readings across dictionaries
- Hanyu Da Zidian
- yuè,rù 32041.010
- Xiandai Hanyu · 1983
- yuè 1429.020
- Tongyong Guifan · 2013
- yuè 453.010
- Reading counts · XDHYPLCD
- yuè(1694) yue(11)
- Mandarin / Cantonese · SMSZD
- yuè粵jyut6 ròu粵juk6