位

Mandarin · pinyin wèi

Meanings

  1. position
  2. location
  3. place
  4. seat
  5. classifier for people (honorific)
  6. classifier for binary bits (e.g. 十六位 16-bit or 2 bytes)
  7. (physics) potential
Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

位
wèi · throne; position, post; rank, status; seat
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4 · wei4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

1character link56same-tone records
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.

位 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

wai2 · wai6

Cantonese word readings for 位. 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. position; location; spot
  2. title; official position
  3. seat; seating
  4. throne; royal seat
  5. rank; grade; status
  6. standard; rule
  7. (honorific) people
  8. (mathematics) digit; place
  9. (often polite) Classifier for persons.
  10. to be situated at; to be located at
  11. to arrange; to set out
  12. (Cantonese) space
  13. (information theory) bit (the smallest unit of storage in a digital computer)
  14. a surname, Wei

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

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

位 · wei4
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 7,118
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record位 位 [wei4] /position/location/place/seat/classifier for people (honorific)/classifier for binary bits (e.g. 十六位 16-bit or 2 bytes)/(physics) potential/