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柴

Mandarin · pinyin chái#

Meanings · chái

  1. firewood
  2. lean (of meat)
  3. thin (of a person)
Mandarin · pinyin Chái#

Meanings · Chái

  1. surname Chai
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Characters in this entry

柴
chái · firewood, faggots, fuel
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Entries containing 柴 ↗Words written with 柴 ↗

Mandarin tones

2 · chai2

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1character link6same-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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 15 senses · 2 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

caai4 · zaai6

Cantonese word readings for 柴. 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. firewood; brushwood
  2. faggot; bundle of sticks bound together (as fuel)
  3. (dialectal) bony; skinny
  4. (dialectal, of food, particularly meat) tough and dry (as opposed to tender and succulent); stringy; hard to chew
  5. (dialectal) no good; poor; inferior
  6. (Min) wood; log; timber
  7. (Min) slow and inarticulate; dull
  8. (obsolete) to burn firewood and worship heaven
  9. a surname

character · Etymology 1

  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to fence; to surround and protect with fence (made of wood)
  2. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to cover; to place something over
  3. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to stop; to block; to obstruct
  4. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of 寨 (zhài, “defending fence”)
  5. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of 寨 (zhài, “villa”)

character · Etymology 2

  1. (Hong Kong) chevron (insignia); stripe (Classifier: 條／条 c)

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

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