眼
Meanings · ngaan5
- (noun) 1. the unit of needles; 2. eyesight
Meanings · ngaan5
- eye
- small hole
- crux (of a matter) Mandarin classifier: 只
- 双
- classifier for big hollow things (wells, stoves, pots etc) or needle, nail, lamp etc
- eyelet
- opening
- aperture
- salient point
- insight
- trap (in chess)
- unaccented beat (in opera)
- eyesight
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.
Reading & tones
Schematic citation-tone diagrams from the source numbers. These are not recordings or predictions of connected speech.
Same syllable, six tones
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.
Written characters
Both source spellings are represented. Written membership is not an etymological or semantic claim.
Mandarin comparison · separate source entries
CC-CEDICT, the Mandarin–English dictionary, lists the same written form:
- 眼 yǎn CC-CEDICT · Mandarineye (Classifier: 隻 zhī, 雙 shuāng); (often used with 一 yī) a look; a glance; small hole; (bound form) salient point; classifier for wells, cave-dwellings etc
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: yan3. It does not establish a Mandarin word with the same meaning.
Look up this spelling in the Mandarin dictionary ↗Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 21 senses · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
ngaan5
Cantonese word readings for 眼. 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
- (anatomy) eye (Classifier: 隻／只 m c; 雙／双 m c; 對／对 c)
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to see; to view; to see ... in person
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to keep sight of; to monitor; to watch
- sight; vision
- Classifier for actions of the eye: glance; glimpse
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to testify; to witness
- eyelet; aperture; hole; opening
- tempo in the opera
- territory in game Go (board game).
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) loophole; shortcoming
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) bubbles of boiling water
- mesh
- key point; critical moment
- (go) trap
- Classifier for springs, wells and ponds.
- (Northern Wu) some; a bit
- (Cantonese, mahjong) two identical tiles which are an essential part of a legal winning hand
- (Cantonese) Classifier for lamps.
- (Cantonese) Classifier for needles.
- (Xiamen, Quanzhou and Taiwanese Hokkien) to glance at; to take a look at
character · Etymology 2
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) protruding; bulging (like bulging eyes)
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack