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一面之緣

简一面之缘 · 繁一面之緣

Mandarin · pinyin yī miàn zhī yuán

(idiom) one-time encounter (e.g. 有一面之緣 yǒu yī miàn zhī yuán "to have met once before")

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Characters in this entry

一: yī · one; a, an; alone
面: miàn · face; surface; plane; side, dimension; Kangxi radical 176
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
緣: Look up this written character
缘: yuán · hem, margin; reason, cause; fate

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4–1–2 · yi1 mian4 zhi1 yuan2

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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.

一面之緣 · find source passages ↗ · 一面之缘 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jat1 min6 zi1 jyun4

Cantonese word readings for 一面之緣. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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