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令

Cantonese · source Jyutpinglim1#

Meanings · lim1

  1. ream (of paper)
Cantonese · source Jyutpingling1#

Meanings · ling1

  1. ream (of paper)
Cantonese · source Jyutpingling5#

Meanings · ling5

  1. ream (of paper)
Cantonese · source Jyutpingling4#

Meanings · ling4

  1. a surname dated name of a place
Cantonese · source Jyutpingling6#

Meanings · ling6

  1. to order
  2. to command
  3. an order
  4. warrant
  5. writ
  6. to cause
  7. to make sth happen
  8. virtuous
  9. honorific title
  10. season
  11. government position
  12. your esteemed
  13. a polite way to address 'your' (especially when referring to one's family members such as parents or siblings)
  14. a short tune(old)
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.

Reading difference from Unihan

  • 令 has the reading lim1 here; Unihan’s citation reading is ling6. Different syllable across these source readings. CC-Canto also lists 令 lim1 as its own entry.

Computed by zimai: each syllable of the CC-Canto word reading is compared with Unihan 17.0.0 kCantonese for its character. The comparison does not say why a reading differs (a changed tone, 變音, a reading tied to one meaning, or a source variant).

Same syllable, six tones

limlim1—lim2—lim3—廉lim4incorruptible脸lim5face潋lim6

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.

Explore words with this reading ↗

Written characters

令

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

Cantonese entries with 令 ↗

Cantonese characters and the Mandarin bridge ↗

Mandarin comparison · separate source entries

CC-CEDICT, the Mandarin–English dictionary, lists the same written form:

  • 令 líng CC-CEDICT · Mandarinused in 脊令 jí líng; used in 令狐 Líng hú (Taiwan pr. lìng)
  • 令 lǐng CC-CEDICT · Mandarinclassifier for a ream of paper
  • 令 lìng CC-CEDICT · Mandarinto order; to command; an order; warrant; writ; to cause; to make sth happen; virtuous; …

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: ling4. It does not establish a Mandarin word with the same meaning.

Look up this spelling in the Mandarin dictionary ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 19 senses · 5 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

lim1 · ling1 · ling4 · ling5 · ling6

Cantonese word readings for 令. 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

  1. to order; to command
  2. order; command; directive
  3. to make (someone do something); to cause; to allow
  4. (historical) governor; magistrate (official title)
  5. (literary, or in compounds) good; excellent
  6. (literary, or in compounds) time; season
  7. (literary, or in compounds) drinker's wager game; drinking game
  8. (honorific) your
  9. (poetry) short for 小令 (“ditty”)
  10. a surname

character · Etymology 2

  1. used in 令狐 (Línghú)
  2. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) used in 令利
  3. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) used in 令俜
  4. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) used in 令星
  5. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) used in 脊令
  6. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) original form of 瓴 (líng)

character · Etymology 3

  1. Classifier for reams of paper.

character · Etymology 4

  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) only used in 令居 (“ancient county in modern Gansu”)

character · Etymology 6

  1. (Cantonese) glossy; smooth and shiny

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 lines 25,660, 25,661, 25,662, 25,663, 25,664 · Original publisher · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Edition & transformations

Original source comment: adapted from cc-cedict

Original source comment: adapted from cc-cedict

Original source comment: adapted from cc-cedict

Original source comment: adapted from cc-cedict

Original source comment: adapted from cc-cedict

Mandarin comparison: CC-CEDICT 2026-10-13, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source reading differences and six-tone sets: computed by zimai from Unihan 17.0.0 (Unicode License V3).

Exact source records & identity令 令 [ling4] {lim1} /ream (of paper)/ # adapted from cc-cedict

SHA-256: c9ddc05db8fd78af3b8da1bd2cdb5e8019bb1502a61aaf64b90b40e07ad8974b

令 令 [ling4] {ling1} /ream (of paper)/ # adapted from cc-cedict

SHA-256: b3028bd87ec3393c1286d4db3d5bd02deea58f5eb46fbeb5f863b72bccbc241f

令 令 [ling4] {ling5} /ream (of paper)/ # adapted from cc-cedict

SHA-256: b6ebb1e34ede5bd93b2bb3d2a2935b4e5baddd245a8e6ac684f9ad792a09c66c

令 令 [ling4] {ling4} /a surname dated name of a place/ # adapted from cc-cedict

SHA-256: a03e1441e8e0a1413e67b45d3fd6a94e01d6f3e038499e8b41395a9279244171

令 令 [ling4] {ling6} /to order/to command/an order/warrant/writ/to cause/to make sth happen/virtuous/honorific title/season/government position/your esteemed/a polite way to address 'your' (especially when referring to one's family members such as parents or siblings)/a short tune(old)/ # adapted from cc-cedict

SHA-256: 43b869fd2dde47763d1b7e82459e941dfa322baef196885b5ab682c8c8138e8c