仕女

Mandarin · pinyin shì nǚ

Meanings

  1. court lady
  2. palace maid
  3. traditional painting of beautiful women
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Characters in this entry

仕
shì · official; serve government
女
nǚ · woman, girl; feminine; Kangxi radical 38; 10th lunar mansion, determinative star ε Aquarii (Albali)
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–3 · shi4 nu:3

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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 Wiktionary · 2 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

noun

  1. (historical) maid in an imperial palace
  2. traditional Chinese painting of beautiful women

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

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