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土

Mandarin · pinyin tǔ#

earth
dust
clay
local
indigenous
crude opium
unsophisticated
one of the eight categories of ancient musical instruments 八音 bā yīn

Mandarin · pinyin Tǔ#

surname Tu
Tu ethnic group

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Characters in this entry

土: tǔ · soil, earth; items made of earth

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

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Mandarin tones

3 · tu3

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1character link7same-tone records1source reference

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

tou2

Cantonese word readings for 土. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

character · Etymology 1

earth; soil
(dialectal) dust
land
earth, one of the five elements of Wu Xing (五行 (-))
earth, one of the five elements of Wu Xing (五行 (-)) — (Classical) short for 土曜日 (tǔyàorì): Saturday
crude opium
hometown; native place
local; native; indigenous
rustic; unsophisticated; uncouth; vulgar; tasteless; uncultured
indigenous; traditional and used by the common people
(～族) the Tu ethnic group; Monguor people; White Mongol
(abbreviation, alt-of) short for 土耳其 (Tǔ'ěrqí, “Turkey”)
(Hokkien) rude; boorish; rough; philistine
a surname

character · Etymology 2

(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of 杜 (dù, “root”)
(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) an ancient river

character · Etymology 3

(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) only used in 土苴 (chǎzhǎ)

character · Etymology 4

only used in 土門／土门 (Túmén)

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

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