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在家

Mandarin · pinyin zài jiā

to be at home
(at a workplace) to be in (as opposed to being away on official business 出差 chū chāi)
(Buddhism etc) to remain a layman (as opposed to becoming a monk or a nun 出家 chū jiā)

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Characters in this entry

在: zài · be at, in, on; consist in, rest
家: jiā · house, home, residence; family

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1 · zai4 jia1

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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 Wiktionary · 3 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

verb

to be at home
(Mainland China) to be at one's workplace, not on a business trip
(Buddhism) to lead a secular life

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

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