望 is also the simplified spelling of 朢.

望

Mandarin · pinyin wàng

Meanings

  1. full moon
  2. to hope
  3. to expect
  4. to visit
  5. to gaze (into the distance)
  6. to look towards
  7. towards
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Characters in this entry

望
wàng · to look at, look forward; to hope, expect
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4 · wang4

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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

mong4 · mong6

Cantonese word readings for 望. 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. to see; to watch (especially from a distance)
  2. (chiefly dialectal) to look; to look at
  3. to gaze at; to stare at
  4. (figurative) to observe; to watch
  5. to hope; to expect
  6. fame; reputation
  7. location; locality
  8. (Chinese astronomy) the day or night of the full moon
  9. (Mandarin, Wu) towards

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

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