三鳥

简 三鸟 · 繁 三鳥
Cantonese · source Jyutpingsaam1 niu5

Meanings

  1. three birds
  2. ambassadors
  3. collective term for chicken, duck, goose
About these definitions

Source definition segments, in their original order. Characters a definition cites are shown without their Mandarin pinyin; classifier lists that CC-Canto copied from CC-CEDICT are marked Mandarin. The community dictionary is not independently verified by zimai.

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Reading & tones

Schematic citation-tone diagrams from the source numbers. These are not recordings or predictions of connected speech.

Same syllable, six tones

saam三saam1threesaam2—saam3—saam4—saam5—saam6—
niuniu1—niu2—niu3—niu4—鸟niu5bird脲niu6carbamide

Characters whose customary Unihan reading (kCantonese) is this syllable in each tone, chosen as in the tone atlas (2013 standard level, then the number of CC-CEDICT words they form), with CC-Canto 2017's meaning for that reading; a dash means no catalogue character has that reading. Checked syllables (-p, -t, -k) normally carry tones 1, 3 and 6. Character readings, not word readings; no frequency implied.

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Written characters

Both source spellings are represented. Written membership is not an etymological or semantic claim.

Cantonese characters and the Mandarin bridge ↗

Mandarin comparison · separate source entries

CC-Canto includes this pinyin reference: San1 niao3. It does not establish a Mandarin word with the same meaning.

Look up this spelling in the Mandarin dictionary ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

saam1 niu5

Cantonese word readings for 三鳥. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

noun

  1. (literary, Chinese religion) the three blue birds attending to the Queen Mother of the West
  2. (literary, figurative) messengers; envoys
  3. chicken, duck and goose

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

CC-Canto · Pleco Inc. · edition 2017-02-02
Source line 434 · Original publisher · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Edition & transformations
Exact source record & identity三鳥 三鸟 [San1 niao3] {saam1 niu5} /three birds/ambassadors/collective term for chicken, duck, goose/

SHA-256: e22464f764806add71d574fe5e828eb00fbe57150ba090f1b2054b6b87cad520