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一男半女

Mandarin · pinyin yī nán bàn nǚ

(idiom) a son or daughter; a child

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Characters in this entry

一: yī · one; a, an; alone
男: nán · male, man; son; baron; surname
半: bàn · half
女: nǚ · woman, girl; feminine; Kangxi radical 38; 10th lunar mansion, determinative star ε Aquarii (Albali)

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–4–3 · yi1 nan2 ban4 nu:3

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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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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) a child; a son or daughter (emphasizing the small number of children)

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

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