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夷

Mandarin · pinyin yí

Meanings

  1. non-Han people, esp. to the East of China
  2. barbarians
  3. to wipe out
  4. to exterminate
  5. to tear down
  6. to raze
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Characters in this entry

夷
yí · ancient barbarian tribes
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Entries containing 夷 ↗Words written with 夷 ↗

Mandarin tones

2 · yi2

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1character link71same-tone records
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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 · 27 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ji4

Cantonese word readings for 夷. 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

  1. ancient tribes in China
  2. (derogatory) barbarian; foreigners; non-Han people
  3. (as verb) to treat as barbarian; to consider as Yi
  4. flat; level; smooth; plain
  5. (by extension) peaceful; tranquil; safe
  6. calm; placid; gentle (of disposition)
  7. (by extension) ordinary; common; usual
  8. to make level; to equalize; to even out
  9. to cut grass; to mow; to weed
  10. to level (to the ground); to raze; to demolish
  11. (by extension) to eradicate; to exterminate; to annihilate
  12. (by extension) to suppress; to quell; to pacify
  13. to close; to seal (gates, passes)
  14. to reduce; to lower; to demote
  15. to decline; to wane; to decay
  16. (historical) an ancient hoe-like tool for weeding and leveling ground
  17. (archaic) to lay out; to arrange (specifically of a corpse); later written as 侇 (yí)
  18. happy; pleased; joyful; later written as 恞 (yí)
  19. (archaic) to injure; to harm; later written as 痍 (yí)
  20. constant; regular; normal; interchangeable with 彝 (yí)
  21. to squat with legs spread (considered disrespectful)
  22. (by extension) arrogant; disrespectful; rude
  23. (Taoism) that which cannot be seen; the invisible; the formless
  24. big; great
  25. A sentence-initial particle with no independent meaning.
  26. 23rd tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "ease" (𝌜)

character · Etymology 2

  1. (Hokkien) alternative form of 刣 (“to kill”)

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

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