尼

Mandarin · pinyin ní

Meanings

  1. Buddhist nun
  2. (often used in phonetic spellings)
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Characters in this entry

尼
ní · Buddhist nun; transliteration
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2 · ni2

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1character link29same-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 Rime · Wiktionary

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

nei4

Cantonese word readings for 尼. 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. Used in transcription.
  2. Used in transcription. — Buddhist nun
  3. (abbreviation, alt-of) Used in transcription. — short for 尼泊爾/尼泊尔 (Níbó'ěr, “Nepal”)

character · Etymology 2

  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) near; close; intimate
  2. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) peaceful; calm
  3. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) harmonious

character · Etymology 3

  1. a surname

character · Etymology 4

  1. (literary) to stop; to obstruct

character · Etymology 5

  1. (Taishanese) a few; a little bit; some
  2. (Taishanese) the; those
  3. (Taishanese) more; -er

character · Etymology 6

  1. (Leizhou Min) Prefix in non-face-to-face kinship terms.

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

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