DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
役
Mandarin · pinyin yì
Meanings
- forced labor
- corvée
- obligatory task
- military service
- to use as servant
- to enserf
- servant (old)
- war
- campaign
- battle
Characters in this entry
- 役
- yì · service; a servant, laborer; to serve
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
4 · yi4
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
1character link177same-tone records
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 Wiktionary · 17 senses · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
jik6
Cantonese word readings for 役. 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
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to guard the borders
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) soldier
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) matter; event; incident
- war; military campaign
- forced labour
- military service
- labourer
- servant
- to use as a servant
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to attract
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) student; disciple
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) duty; responsibility
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) low-ranking official
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to arrange into rows
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to help; to aid
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to be; to act as
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to practise; to act with
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
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