DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
曹
Characters in this entry
- 曹
- cáo · ministry officials; surname
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
2 · cao2
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
1character link14same-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 Rime · Wiktionary
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
cou4
Cantonese word readings for 曹. 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) plaintiff and defendant
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) division department of the central government in ancient times
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) official
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) group
- (literary) people of the same kind
- (historical) Cao, a vassal state in China during the Zhou Dynasty (1046–221 BCE), covering roughly the area of modern-day Dingtao County in Heze, southwestern Shandong province
- a surname
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
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