主

Mandarin · pinyin zhǔ

Meanings

  1. owner
  2. master
  3. host
  4. individual or party concerned
  5. God
  6. Lord
  7. main
  8. to indicate or signify
  9. trump card (in card games)
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Characters in this entry

主
zhǔ · master, chief owner; host; lord
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3 · zhu3

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Connected dictionary

1character link22same-tone records
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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 Rime · Wiktionary

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zyu2

Cantonese word readings for 主. 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.

character

  1. owner; master
  2. host
  3. (archaic, honorific) you (honorific second-person pronoun addressing a "senior official" [大夫] or his spouse)
  4. (Christianity, Islam) God, Lord
  5. emperor
  6. (colloquial, derogatory) person of a specified type
  7. agent; agency
  8. party; entity
  9. main; primary; principal; major
  10. to be in charge; to lead; to command
  11. to indicate; to signify
  12. (grammar) short for 主語/主语 (zhǔyǔ)
  13. (historical) short for 公主 (gōngzhǔ)
  14. a surname

character

  1. Classifier for events.
  2. (alt-of, alternative) alternative form of 注 (zhù, “to pour into”)

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

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