DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

中沙群島

简中沙群岛 · 繁中沙群島

Mandarin · pinyin Zhōng shā Qún dǎo

Zhongsha Islands, series of reefs in the South China Sea, whose ownership is disputed between China, the Philippines, and Taiwan

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

中: zhōng · central; center, middle; in the midst of; hit (target); attain
沙: shā · sand, gravel, pebbles; granulated
群: qún · group, crowd, multitude, mob
島: Look up this written character
岛: dǎo · island

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–1–2–3 · Zhong1 sha1 Qun2 dao3

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

中沙群島 · find source passages ↗ · 中沙群岛 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

name

The Zhongsha Islands, a collection of entirely-submerged banks, shoals, and seamounts of disputed sovereignty in the South China Sea

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

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