DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
變
简 变 · 繁 變Mandarin · pinyin biàn
Meanings
- to change
- to become different
- to transform
- to vary
- rebellion
Characters in this entry
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Mandarin tones
4 · bian4
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
1character link32same-tone records
Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.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 Wiktionary · 17 senses · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
bin3
Cantonese word readings for 變. 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
- (intransitive) to change (by itself); to transform
- (intransitive) to become; to turn into; to change into
- (transitive) to change (something in some way); to alter; to transform
- sudden major change; unexpected change of events
- (transitive) to sell off (one's property)
- (intransitive) to be flexible (when dealing with matters); to accommodate to circumstances
- changeable; changing
- (Buddhism) bianwen (form of narrative literature from the Tang dynasty)
- (literary) natural disasters and unusual natural phenomenon
- (literary) political trickery; shifts in politics
- (literary) strange; peculiar; queer
- (literary) to move; to shift
- (Cantonese, of food) to turn bad
- (Hokkien) to play tricks; to use schemes (to deceive or harm someone)
- (Hokkien) to deal with; to do; to work on
- (Hokkien) to fiddle with; to manipulate
- a surname
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack