後

简 后 · 繁 後
Mandarin · pinyin hòu

Meanings

  1. back
  2. behind
  3. rear
  4. afterwards
  5. after
  6. later
  7. post-
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Characters in this entry

後
hòu · behind, rear, after; descendents
后
hòu · queen, empress, sovereign; (simp. for 後) behind, rear, after
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4 · hou4

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2character links23same-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.

後 · find source passages ↗ · 后 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 7 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hau6

Cantonese word readings for 後. 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

  1. behind; rear; back
  2. later; after; afterwards
  3. last
  4. descendant; offspring
  5. post-
  6. (literary) anus
  7. a surname

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

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