起眼

Cantonese · source Jyutpinghei2 ngaan5

Meanings

  1. (adjective) obvious, eye-catching; noticeable
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.

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Reading & tones

Schematic citation-tone diagrams from the source numbers. These are not recordings or predictions of connected speech.

Same syllable, six tones

ngaanngaan1—ngaan2—ngaan3—颜ngaan4color眼ngaan5eye雁ngaan6wild goose

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.

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Written characters

Both source spellings are represented. Written membership is not an etymological or semantic claim.

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Mandarin comparison · separate source entries

CC-CEDICT, the Mandarin–English dictionary, lists the same written form:

  • 起眼 qǐ yǎn CC-CEDICT · Mandarinto catch one's eye (usu. used in the negative)

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: qi3 yan3. It does not establish a Mandarin word with the same meaning.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hei2 ngaan5

Cantonese word readings for 起眼. 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.

adj

  1. attractive; outstanding; remarkable; impressive; eye-catching; striking (usually in the negative)

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

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

CC-Canto · Pleco Inc. · edition 2017-02-02
Source line 17,623 · Original publisher · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Edition & transformations

Mandarin comparison: CC-CEDICT 2026-10-13, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source reading differences and six-tone sets: computed by zimai from Unihan 17.0.0 (Unicode License V3).

Exact source record & identity起眼 起眼 [qi3 yan3] {hei2 ngaan5} /(adjective) obvious, eye-catching; noticeable/

SHA-256: 8f1a99c2572592e32d7392a517047b8a3bc645f9343c413cbb93d43f8ad066b3