DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
字
Mandarin · pinyin zì
Meanings
- letter
- symbol
- character
- word
- Classifier: 個 gè
- courtesy or style name traditionally given to males aged 20 in dynastic China
Characters in this entry
- 字
- zì · letter, character, word
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
4 · zi4
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
1character link15same-tone records2source 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 Rime · Wiktionary
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
zi6
Cantonese word readings for 字. 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.
character
- letter; symbol; character, especially a Chinese character (Classifier: 個/个 m c; 隻/只 c)
- word; term; wording; diction
- (computing) word (natural unit of data)
- handwriting; writing
- (historical) courtesy name; Chinese-style name (a name traditionally given to Chinese males at the age of 20 and females at the age of 15)
- (historical) to style; to give someone a courtesy name
- (calligraphy) style of handwriting; printing type
- (calligraphy) (a calligrapher's) calligraphy work
- pronunciation of a character; pronunciation
- written letter; message; correspondence
- receipt; contract; slip
- (colloquial) side of a coin with written characters; tails
- (Cantonese, Hakka, Min, Malaysia, Singapore) five minutes (derived from the locations of 1 to 12 on a clock face) (Classifier: 個/个 m c; 隻/只 h)
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to give birth to; to deliver a baby; to bring into the world
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to be pregnant; to be carrying a baby
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese, historical, of a girl) to be betrothed; to be allowed to marry
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to bring up; to raise; to rear (a child)
- (obsolete or Guzhang Waxiang) to love; to cherish; to care very much for
- (Luxi Waxiang) to envy; to be jealous of; to admire
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to educate; to teach; to instruct
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to govern; to administer
- a surname
- (Penang Hokkien) certificate
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack