DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
候
Mandarin · pinyin hòu
Meanings
- to wait
- to inquire after
- to watch
- season
- climate
- (old) period of five days
Characters in this entry
- 候
- hòu · wait; expect; visit; greet
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
4 · hou4
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
1character link23same-tone records
Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.Read this spelling in Classical texts
Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.
Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
hau6
Cantonese word readings for 候. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack
Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
character
- to reconnoitre; to scout
- to observe; to survey
- to wait for; to await
- to respectfully await
- to visit; to send one's respects to
- to wait on; to attend to; to take care of
- to forecast; to predict (by divination)
- (historical) scout; lookout; vanguard
- (historical) alternative form of 堠 (hòu, “fortress”)
- (historical) official
- (historical) posthouse; station
- (historical) pentad (ancient time unit composed of five days)
- climate; season
- omen; sign; portent
- (traditional Chinese medicine) to examine (pulse)
- (traditional Chinese medicine) medical sign and symptom
- (dialectal) to pay for (a bill)
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack