仔
Meanings · zai2
- (of domestic animals or fowls) young
- small thing
- child
- son
- slang for one’s boyfriend
- young male
- describes an entity which is small
- a kid
- used with an adjective
- noun to refer to someone with certain characteristics
- usually used in a context paired with other words to address someone who is of a low or inferior status
- added to the end of a term of address to express one’s affection
- added to the end of something to soften the tone of something
Meanings · zi1
- duties
- responsibilties
Meanings · zi2
- meticulous
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.
Reading & tones
Schematic citation-tone diagrams from the source numbers. These are not recordings or predictions of connected speech.
Same syllable, six tones
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.
Written characters
Both source spellings are represented. Written membership is not an etymological or semantic claim.
Mandarin comparison · separate source entries
CC-CEDICT, the Mandarin–English dictionary, lists the same written form:
- 仔 zǎi CC-CEDICT · Mandarinvariant of 崽 zǎi; (dialect) (bound form) young man
- 仔 zī CC-CEDICT · Mandarinused in 仔肩 zī jiān
- 仔 zǐ CC-CEDICT · Mandarin(bound form) (of domestic animals or fowl) young; (bound form) fine; detailed
A separate source entry, shown for comparison. The same characters can carry different senses in Mandarin and in Cantonese; zimai does not align these senses.
CC-Canto includes this pinyin reference: zi3. It does not establish a Mandarin word with the same meaning.
Look up this spelling in the Mandarin dictionary ↗Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 29 senses · 3 Cantonese readings
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
zai2 · zi1 · zi2
Cantonese word readings for 仔. 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 · Etymology 1
- (domesticated animals or fowls) young
- (in compounds) meticulous; fine
- (Taiwan) alternative form of 籽 (zǐ, “seed”)
character · Etymology 1
- (Cantonese, dialectal Hakka, Shehua) son (Classifier: 個／个 c; 粒 c)
- (Cantonese) child
- (Cantonese, slang) boyfriend (Classifier: 條／条 c)
- (Cantonese, informal) little boy; young man (Classifier: 條／条 c; 隻／只 c)
- (Cantonese, dialectal Hakka, Northern Min) Diminutive suffix. — Denotes a young male of a particular trait.
- (Cantonese, dialectal Hakka, Northern Min) Diminutive suffix. — Denotes a young male of a particular occupation or background, often demeaningly.
- (Cantonese, dialectal Hakka, Northern Min) Diminutive suffix. — Used to call somebody affectionately. (For names, it is only used for males.)
- (Cantonese, dialectal Hakka, Northern Min) Diminutive suffix. — Demeaningly denotes somebody of a particular occupation or position.
- (Cantonese, dialectal Hakka, Northern Min) Diminutive suffix. — Denotes a young animal.
- (Cantonese, dialectal Hakka, Northern Min) Diminutive suffix. — Denotes something that is small in size.
- (Cantonese, dialectal Hakka, Northern Min) Diminutive suffix. — Denotes the younger sibling of one's spouse.
- (Cantonese, dialectal Hakka, Northern Min) Diminutive suffix. — Used with single-syllable nouns without denoting a specific meaning.
- (Cantonese) Used after a classifier to indicate that something is small in size and/or quantity.
- (Cantonese, slang, neologism) Suffix placed after a verb or adjective to sound cute and affectionate.
character · Etymology 2
- (Hokkien) a diminutive suffix for nouns, adjectives or quantities
- (Hokkien) a suffix that converts a verb or adjective into a noun
- (Hokkien) a suffix placed after a name or title, used endearingly, humorously or pejoratively
character · Etymology 2
- (Hokkien, alt-of, alternative) alternative form of 囝, especially when used as a suffix.
character · Etymology 3
- (Southern Min) An interfix placed between two nouns to show the relationship between the two objects.
character · Etymology 4
- (Southern Min) An interfix placed between two numbers to denote the value of 100, i.e. x 仔 y = 100x + 10y.
character · Etymology 5
- (Southern Min) An interfix used limitedly in certain temporal location adverbs.
character · Etymology 6
- (Hakka, Hokkien) a suffix used after nouns
- (Hakka, Hokkien) a suffix that makes a derogatory slur
character · Etymology 7
- (Hakka, Hokkien) only used in 仔肩 (zījiān)
character · Etymology 8
- (Hakka, Hokkien, Wu) Used to show a verb has been completed before the last verb of a sentence, often in a sequence of events.
- (Hakka, Hokkien, Wu) Used to indicate the present perfective.
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack