都
Characters in this entry
- 都
- dōu · dū · metropolis, capital; all, the whole; elegant, refined
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Mandarin tones
1 · dou1
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 Wiktionary · 13 senses · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
dou1
Cantonese word readings for 都. 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 · Etymology 1
- metropolis; large city
- capital; capital city
- (literary) to make a place the capital city; to establish a capital
- (obsolete) graceful; elegant
- a surname, Du
character · Etymology 2
- all; both (used to indicate that the statement is true for every subject or object); or the entirety of something
- (emphasis on subject) even
- (emphasis on object) even, interchangeable with 也 (yě)
- (emphasis on object) even, interchangeable with 也 (yě) — (emphasis) Used in the 連……都…… structure; interchangeable with 也 (yě); even
- (emphasis on verb, in the negative) at all
- already
- (Cantonese) as well; also; too
- (Cantonese) still; anyways; nevertheless
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
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