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馬

简马 · 繁馬

Mandarin · pinyin mǎ#

horse
Classifier: 匹 pǐ
horse or cavalry piece in Chinese chess
knight in Western chess

Mandarin · pinyin Mǎ#

surname Ma
abbr. for Malaysia 馬來西亞 Mǎ lái xī yà

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Characters in this entry

馬: Look up this written character
马: mǎ · horse; surname; Kangxi radical 187

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

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Mandarin tones

3 · ma3

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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.

馬 · find source passages ↗ · 马 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 20 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

maa5

Cantonese word readings for 馬. 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

horse (Classifier: 匹 m c; 隻／只 m c h mn; 條／条 h)
Horse (Chinese zodiac sign)
(xiangqi, Xiangqi) knight; horse: 🩪 (sometimes only on the black side)
(chess) knight
(Cantonese) horse race (Classifier: 場／场 c)
original form of 碼／码 (mǎ, “chip for counting”)
big (prefix for nouns)
(Southwestern Mandarin, including Sichuanese) to bully
(Sichuanese) to keep a straight face
(Cantonese, slang) subordinate; underling
Prefix for names of insects, also written as 螞.
a surname
(～日) (telegraphy) the twenty-first day of a month

character · Etymology 2

Used in place names.
(abbreviation, alt-of) short for 馬祖／马祖 (Mǎzǔ, “Matsu”)

character · Etymology 3

Used in transcription.
(abbreviation, alt-of) short for 馬來西亞／马来西亚 (Mǎláixīyà, “Malaysia”)
(sports) short for 馬拉松／马拉松 (mǎlāsōng, “marathon”)
(Mainland China) short for 馬克思／马克思 (Mǎkèsī, “Marx”)
(abbreviation, alt-of) short for 馬列主義／马列主义 (Mǎ-Liè zhǔyì, “Marxism-Leninism”)

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

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