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留

Cantonese · source Jyutpinglau4

Meanings

  1. to leave (a message etc)
  2. to retain
  3. to stay
  4. to remain
  5. to keep
  6. to preserve
  7. to halt
  8. to stop
  9. to detain
  10. to study abroad
  11. to grow
  12. to bequeath
  13. to set aside
  14. to take in
  15. to ask someone to stay
  16. to pay attention to
  17. to concentrate on
About these definitions

Source definition segments, in their original order. Characters a definition cites are shown without their Mandarin pinyin; classifier lists that CC-Canto copied from CC-CEDICT are marked Mandarin. The community dictionary is not independently verified by zimai.

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Reading & tones

Schematic citation-tone diagrams from the source numbers. These are not recordings or predictions of connected speech.

Same syllable, six tones

lau搂lau1to wear over one's shoulder or head or facelau2—lau3—流lau4to flow柳lau5willow漏lau6to leak

Characters whose customary Unihan reading (kCantonese) is this syllable in each tone, chosen as in the tone atlas (2013 standard level, then the number of CC-CEDICT words they form), with CC-Canto 2017's meaning for that reading; a dash means no catalogue character has that reading. Checked syllables (-p, -t, -k) normally carry tones 1, 3 and 6. Character readings, not word readings; no frequency implied.

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Written characters

留

Both source spellings are represented. Written membership is not an etymological or semantic claim.

Cantonese entries with 留 ↗

Cantonese characters and the Mandarin bridge ↗

Mandarin comparison · separate source entries

CC-CEDICT, the Mandarin–English dictionary, lists the same written form:

  • 留 liú CC-CEDICT · Mandarinto leave (a message etc); to retain; to stay; to remain; to keep; to preserve

A separate source entry, shown for comparison. The same characters can carry different senses in Mandarin and in Cantonese; zimai does not align these senses.

CC-Canto includes this pinyin reference: liu2. It does not establish a Mandarin word with the same meaning.

Look up this spelling in the Mandarin dictionary ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 12 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

lau4

Cantonese word readings for 留. 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.

character

  1. to stay; to remain
  2. to ask someone to stay; to detain
  3. to keep; to save; to hold in reserve; to retain; to maintain
  4. to leave behind (a package, a message, an impression, etc.)
  5. (abbreviation, alt-of) short for 留學／留学 (liúxué, “to study abroad”)
  6. to accept (a gift)
  7. to allow to grow
  8. to concentrate (on something)
  9. (alt-of, alternative) alternative form of 流 (liú)
  10. a surname

character

  1. (archaic) to wait; to await

character

  1. (alt-of, alternative, name) Alternative name for 昴 (mǎo).

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

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

CC-Canto · Pleco Inc. · edition 2017-02-02
Source line 30,385 · Original publisher · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Edition & transformations

Original source comment: adapted from cc-cedict

Mandarin comparison: CC-CEDICT 2026-10-13, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source reading differences and six-tone sets: computed by zimai from Unihan 17.0.0 (Unicode License V3).

Exact source record & identity留 留 [liu2] {lau4} /to leave (a message etc)/to retain/to stay/to remain/to keep/to preserve/to halt/to stop/to detain/to study abroad/to grow/to bequeath/to set aside/to take in/to ask someone to stay/to pay attention to/to concentrate on/ # adapted from cc-cedict

SHA-256: af371e3ddb902fcd460570ea9851c9adfaa6b8169491bc6b835067e2b7cd7783