DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

賤民

简贱民 · 繁賤民

Mandarin · pinyin jiàn mín

social stratum below the level of ordinary people
untouchable
dalit (India caste)

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

賤: Look up this written character
民: mín · people, subjects, citizens
贱: jiàn · mean, low; cheap, worthless

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–2 · jian4 min2

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

2character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

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.

賤民 · find source passages ↗ · 贱民 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zin6 man4

Cantonese word readings for 賤民. 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.

noun

(historical) person of the lowest social status; outcast; pariah (e.g. servants, prostitutes, entertainers, yamen runners), as opposed to 良民 (liángmín)
Dalit (a member of the lowest caste in the traditional Indian caste system)

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

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