奶奶

Mandarin · pinyin nǎi nai

Meanings

  1. (informal) grandma (paternal grandmother)
  2. (respectful) mistress of the house
  3. Classifier: 位 wèi
  4. (coll.) boobies
  5. breasts
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Characters in this entry

奶
nǎi · milk; woman's breasts; nurse
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3–5 · nai3 nai5

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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 · 7 senses · 2 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

naai4 naai2 · naai5 naai5

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

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

noun

  1. (chiefly Mandarin, Jin, Northern Min, informal, endearing) paternal grandmother; nanna; gramma; granny
  2. (Cantonese, dialectal Hakka) mother-in-law (husband's mother)
  3. (Ruijin Hakka) great-aunt (wife of paternal grandfather's younger brother)
  4. (Cantonese, Southern Min) lady; madam

noun

  1. (dialectal) breast
  2. (Sichuanese, childish in Cantonese, Wu) milk; breast milk

noun

  1. (Yudu Hakka, Northern Min) paternal aunt (wife of father's elder brother)

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

奶奶 · nai3 nai5
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 29,995
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record奶奶 奶奶 [nai3 nai5] /(informal) grandma (paternal grandmother)/(respectful) mistress of the house/CL:位[wei4]/(coll.) boobies/breasts/