看

Mandarin · pinyin kān#

Meanings · kān

  1. to look after
  2. to take care of
  3. to watch
  4. to guard
Mandarin · pinyin kàn#

Meanings · kàn

  1. to see; to look at
  2. to read
  3. to watch
  4. to visit; to call on
  5. to consider; to regard as
  6. to look after
  7. to treat (a patient or illness)
  8. to depend on
  9. to feel (that)
  10. (after a verb) to give it a try
  11. to watch out for
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Characters in this entry

看
kàn · look, see; examine, scrutinize
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1 · kan1

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Connected dictionary

1character link12same-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 Rime · Wiktionary

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hon1 · hon3

Cantonese word readings for 看. 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 · Etymology 1

  1. (intransitive, transitive) to look; to see; to watch
  2. (transitive) to read
  3. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese, transitive) to observe; to check
  4. (transitive) to visit; to call on
  5. to think; to feel (that)
  6. to consider; to regard as; to treat like
  7. to depend on
  8. to treat (a patient or sickness)
  9. Used to indicate the potential mood.
  10. placed after a verb (often reduplicated) or a verb phrase to indicate a trial

character · Etymology 1

  1. to look after; to take care of; to tend; to keep an eye on

character · Etymology 2

  1. (Teochew) alternative form of 睇

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

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

看 · kan1 · kan4
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source lines 78,248, 78,249
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source records看 看 [kan1] /to look after/to take care of/to watch/to guard/看 看 [kan4] /to see; to look at/to read/to watch/to visit; to call on/to consider; to regard as/to look after/to treat (a patient or illness)/to depend on/to feel (that)/(after a verb) to give it a try/to watch out for/