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即席

Mandarin · pinyin jí xí

impromptu
improvised
to take one's seat (at a banquet etc)

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Characters in this entry

即: jí · promptly, quickly, immediately
席: xí · seat; mat; take seat; banquet

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2 · ji2 xi2

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zik1 zik6

Cantonese word readings for 即席. 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.

verb

(literary) to take one's seat

adv

impromptu; extempore; off the cuff

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

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