DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

北叟失馬

简北叟失马 · 繁北叟失馬

Mandarin · pinyin běi sǒu shī mǎ

lit. the old man lost his horse, but it all turned out for the best (idiom)
fig. a blessing in disguise
it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

北: běi · north; northern; northward
叟: sǒu · old man; elder
失: shī · lose; make mistake, neglect
馬: Look up this written character
马: mǎ · horse; surname; Kangxi radical 187

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

3–3–1–3 · bei3 sou3 shi1 ma3

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

5character links

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.

北叟失馬 · find source passages ↗ · 北叟失马 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Rime

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bak1 sau2 sat1 maa5

Cantonese word readings for 北叟失馬. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack