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一言九鼎

Mandarin · pinyin yī yán jiǔ dǐng

one word worth nine sacred tripods (idiom); words of enormous weight

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Characters in this entry

一: yī · one; a, an; alone
言: yán · words, speech; speak, say; Kangxi radical 149
九: jiǔ · nine
鼎: dǐng · large, three-legged bronze caldron; Kangxi radical 206; hexagram ䷱

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–3–3 · yi1 yan2 jiu3 ding3

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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 · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jat1 jin4 gau2 ding2

Cantonese word readings for 一言九鼎. 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.

phrase

(idiomatic) words of enormous weight; solemn promise or pledge

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

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