DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

棄子

简弃子 · 繁棄子

Mandarin · pinyin qì zǐ

sacrificed piece (in chess or Go)
abandoned child
(fig.) sth that has been abandoned or sacrificed (an ally, a product, employees etc)
(in expressions such as 拋家棄子 pāo jiā qì zǐ) to abandon one's child(ren)

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

棄: Look up this written character
子: zǐ · offspring, child; fruit, seed of; first earthly branch
弃: qì · reject, abandon, discard

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–3 · qi4 zi3

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

2character links1same-tone record1source reference

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

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.

棄子 · find source passages ↗ · 弃子 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hei3 zi2

Cantonese word readings for 棄子. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

sacrificed piece (in chess or Go)
abandoned child

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

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