要
Meanings · yāo
- (bound form) to demand; to coerce
Meanings · yào
- to want; to need; to ask for
- will; shall; about to
- need to; should
- if (same as 要是 yào shi)
- (bound form) important
Characters in this entry
- 要
- yào · necessary, essential; necessity
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Mandarin tones
1 · yao1
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
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Sentences in context
Exact source-spelling matches. Open the reader for dictionary lookups, construction notes and related examples. Occurrence does not establish a particular dictionary sense.
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.
Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
jiu1 · jiu2 · jiu3
Cantonese word readings for 要. 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
- to demand; to ask; to request
- to force; to coerce
- to promise
- to block; to intercept
- (obsolete) alternative form of 邀 (“to invite”)
- (obsolete) alternative form of 腰 (“waist”)
- (obsolete) contract of alliance
- a surname
character
- to want; to wish
- to wish to have or keep
- to ask for
- to request
- to need
- will; going to (future auxiliary)
- should; must; to have to
- vital; important
- important points; essentials
- if; in case of
- (dated Shanghainese) Used to indicate the future tense.
character
- (archaic) alternative form of 偠 (yǎo)
- used in 要褭／要袅
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
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