北斗七星

Mandarin · pinyin Běi dǒu Qī xīng

Meanings

  1. (astronomy) Big Dipper
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Characters in this entry

北
běi · north; northern; northward
斗
dòu · dǒu · a dipper; unit of volume (ten 升 or litres); Kangxi radical 68; 8th lunar mansion, determinative star φ Sagittarii
七
qī · seven
星
xīng · a star, planet; any point of light; 25th lunar mansion, determinative star α Hydrae (Alphard)
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3–3–1–1 · Bei3 dou3 Qi1 xing1

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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 · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bak1 dau2 cat1 sing1

Cantonese word readings for 北斗七星. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

name

  1. (astronomy) the Big Dipper; the Plough

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

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