DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

公差

Mandarin · pinyin gōng chā#

tolerance (allowed error)
common difference (of an arithmetic series)

Mandarin · pinyin gōng chāi#

official errand
bailiff in a yamen

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

公: gōng · fair, equitable; public; duke
差: chà · chā · to differ; different, wrong; nearly, almost; an officer

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–1 · gong1 cha1

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

2character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

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.

公差 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun · Etymology 1

(arithmetic) common difference (of an arithmetic series)
(mechanics) tolerance; allowed error

noun · Etymology 2

official errand; business trip
person on an official errand or business trip
(dated) bailiff in a yamen

verb · Etymology 2

(Taiwan) to go on an official errand or business trip

noun · Etymology 3

(Zhangzhou Hokkien) kite

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack