柯

Mandarin · pinyin kē#

Meanings · kē

  1. (literary) branch; stem; stalk
  2. (literary) ax handle
Mandarin · pinyin Kē#

Meanings · Kē

  1. surname Ke
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Characters in this entry

柯
kē · axe-handle; stalk, bough; surname
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1 · ke1

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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

o1

Cantonese word readings for 柯. 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. (literary) axe handle
  2. (literary) stalk; branch
  3. a surname
  4. (abbreviation, alt-of) short for 柯爾克孜/柯尔克孜 (kē'ěrkèzī, “Kyrgyz (the people, language, etc.)”)
  5. Lithocarpus; stone oak

character · Etymology 2

  1. (Hokkien, of fruits, vegetable, etc.) fibrous; stringy; tough; withered
  2. (Teochew) dry; dried up; unmoist
  3. (Hokkien) lost one's youthfulness; old

character · Etymology 3

  1. (Xiamen and Quanzhou Hokkien) copper coin
  2. (Xiamen and Quanzhou Hokkien) yuan (unit of currency)

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

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