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面

Mandarin · pinyin miàn

face
side
surface
aspect
top
classifier for objects with flat surfaces such as drums, mirrors, flags etc

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面: miàn · face; surface; plane; side, dimension; Kangxi radical 176

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

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Mandarin tones

4 · mian4

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 13 senses · 2 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

min2 · min6

Cantonese word readings for 面. 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

(literary or dialectal) face (Classifier: 塊／块 c)
surface; top; face
aspect; side; respect
right side; cover; outside
(geometry) face
(Cantonese, Singapore and Penang Hokkien) dignity; reputation; face
to meet
face-to-face
to face
suffix used to form a noun of locality
(abbreviation, alt-of) short for 面試／面试 (miànshì, “interview”)
Classifier for objects with a flat surface.
Classifier for numbers of times people meet each other.

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

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