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夜叉

Mandarin · pinyin yè chā

yaksha (malevolent spirit) (loanword)
(fig.) ferocious-looking person

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Characters in this entry

夜: yè · night, dark; in night; by night
叉: chā · crotch; fork, prong

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Mandarin tones

4–1 · ye4 cha1

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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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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

noun

(Buddhism) yaksha (a malevolent spirit)
(by extension) a ferocious and hideous looking person
(figurative, humorous, dated) wife

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

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