午
Meanings
- 7th earthly branch: 11 a.m.-1 p.m., noon, 5th solar month (6th June-6th July), year of the Horse
- ancient Chinese compass point: 180° (south)
Characters in this entry
- 午
- wǔ · seventh earthly branch
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
3 · wu3
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
Sentences in context
Exact source-spelling matches. Open the reader for dictionary lookups, construction notes and related examples. Occurrence does not establish a particular dictionary sense.
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.
Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
ng5
Cantonese word readings for 午. 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
- the seventh of the twelve earthly branches — (archaic, astrology) the seventh year of the Jovian orbital cycle
- the seventh of the twelve earthly branches — (archaic) the fifth month of the Chinese calendar
- the seventh of the twelve earthly branches — (historical) the double hour from 11 am to 1 pm
- the seventh of the twelve earthly branches — (historical) the double hour from 11 am to 1 pm — (precisely) noon
- the seventh of the twelve earthly branches — (historical) the double hour from 11 am to 1 pm — the middle of a period of time
- the seventh of the twelve earthly branches — (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) the south
- the seventh of the twelve earthly branches — (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) the horse (according to the Chinese zodiac)
- (alt. form 迕) in a criss-cross manner; to cross each other
- a surname
- (alt-of, archaic) archaic form of 忤 (wǔ)
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack