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緣

简 缘 · 繁 緣
Mandarin · pinyin yuán

Meanings

  1. cause
  2. reason
  3. karma
  4. fate
  5. predestined affinity
  6. margin
  7. hem
  8. edge
  9. along
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Characters in this entry

緣
Look up this written character
缘
yuán · hem, margin; reason, cause; fate
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Entries containing 緣 ↗Words written with 緣 ↗Words written with 缘 ↗

Mandarin tones

2 · yuan2

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Connected dictionary

1character link65same-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.

緣 · find source passages ↗ · 缘 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jyun4 · jyun6

Cantonese word readings for 緣. 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

  1. hem (edge of a piece of clothing)
  2. edge; brink; margin
  3. along; down; throughout the length of
  4. to climb up; to climb vertically; to ascend
  5. to involve; to implicate; to incriminate
  6. reason; cause; basis
  7. (literary) because of; due to
  8. relying on; depending on
  9. lucky chance; luck or lot by which people are brought together; predestined relationship; fate; serendipity
  10. linkage; bondings

character

  1. hem; margin
  2. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to edge with lace; to rim with lace, border, etc.

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

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