DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
地支
Mandarin · pinyin dì zhī
Meanings
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Mandarin tones
4–1 · di4 zhi1
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
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2character links1same-tone record17source references
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 Wiktionary · 8 senses · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
dei6 zi1
Cantonese word readings for 地支. 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.
noun
- An earthly branch: one of the twelve terms used in East Asian cultures to represent — (historical astronomy) The (approximately) twelve years of Jupiter's orbital period, forming the Chinese zodiac and personified as twelve or sixty gods known as Tai Sui.
- An earthly branch: one of the twelve terms used in East Asian cultures to represent — (astrology) The twelve animals representing the Chinese zodiac, particularly as a birthyear.
- An earthly branch: one of the twelve terms used in East Asian cultures to represent — (obsolete) The twelve months of the Chinese lunar year.
- An earthly branch: one of the twelve terms used in East Asian cultures to represent — (historical navigation) The twelve bearings of traditional Chinese navigation, comprising 30° divisions of the compass beginning with due north.
- An earthly branch: one of the twelve terms used in East Asian cultures to represent — (historical astronomy) The duodecimal divisions of the Chinese seasons, beginning with the second of the three divisions of winter.
- An earthly branch: one of the twelve terms used in East Asian cultures to represent — (historical chronometry) The duodecimal divisions of the day into "Chinese" or "double hours", beginning with 11 pm.
- An earthly branch: one of the twelve terms used in East Asian cultures to represent — (historical chronometry) The exact time at the middle of a "Chinese" or "double hour", beginning with midnight.
- The twelve earthly branches as a whole.
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