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宰

Mandarin · pinyin zǎi

to slaughter; to butcher; to kill (animals etc)
(coll.) to fleece; to rip off; to overcharge
(bound form) to govern; to rule
(bound form) (a title for certain government officials in ancient China)

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宰: zǎi · to slaughter; to rule

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3 · zai3

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1character link5same-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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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zoi2

Cantonese word readings for 宰. 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

to slaughter; to butcher
(historical) prefect; minister
to govern; to rule
(colloquial) to overcharge
a surname, Zai

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

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