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參

简 参 · 繁 參
Cantonese · source Jyutpingcaam1#

Meanings · caam1

  1. to enter (a competition)
Cantonese · source Jyutpingcaam1#

Meanings · caam1

  1. to take part in
  2. to participate
  3. to join
  4. to attend
  5. to counsel
  6. to call on
  7. to censure
  8. to pay respects
  9. to soar aloft
  10. to reach into the realm of understanding
  11. to impeach
  12. to recommend someone to a post
  13. to examine
  14. unequal
  15. varied
  16. irregular
  17. uneven
  18. not uniform
  19. abbr. for 参议院 Senate, Upper House
  20. to intervene
Cantonese · source Jyutpingcam1#

Meanings · cam1

  1. to take part in
  2. to participate
  3. to join
  4. to attend
  5. to counsel
  6. to call on
  7. to censure
  8. to pay respects
  9. to soar aloft
  10. to reach into the realm of understanding
  11. to impeach
  12. to recommend someone to a post
  13. to examine
  14. unequal
  15. varied
  16. irregular
  17. uneven
  18. not uniform
  19. abbr. for 参议院 Senate, Upper House
  20. to intervene
Cantonese · source Jyutpingsaam1#

Meanings · saam1

  1. three (banker's anti-fraud numeral)
Cantonese · source Jyutpingsam1#

Meanings · sam1

  1. ginseng
  2. sea cucumber
  3. one of the 28 constellations
  4. ransom
Cantonese · source Jyutpingcaam1#

Meanings · caam1

  1. to take part in
  2. to participate
  3. to join
  4. to attend
  5. to counsel
  6. to call on
  7. to censure
  8. to pay respects
  9. to soar aloft
  10. to reach into the realm of understanding
  11. to impeach
  12. to recommend someone to a post
  13. to examine
  14. unequal
  15. varied
  16. irregular
  17. uneven
  18. not uniform
  19. abbr. for 参议院 Senate, Upper House
  20. to intervene
Cantonese · source Jyutpingcam1#

Meanings · cam1

  1. to take part in
  2. to participate
  3. to join
  4. to attend
  5. to counsel
  6. to call on
  7. to censure
  8. to pay respects
  9. to soar aloft
  10. to reach into the realm of understanding
  11. to impeach
  12. to recommend someone to a post
  13. to examine
  14. unequal
  15. varied
  16. irregular
  17. uneven
  18. not uniform
  19. abbr. for 参议院 Senate, Upper House
  20. to intervene
Cantonese · source Jyutpingsaam1#

Meanings · saam1

  1. three (banker's anti-fraud numeral)
Cantonese · source Jyutpingsam1#

Meanings · sam1

  1. ginseng
  2. sea cucumber
  3. one of the 28 constellations
  4. ransom
About these definitions

Source definition segments, in their original order. Characters a definition cites are shown without their Mandarin pinyin; classifier lists that CC-Canto copied from CC-CEDICT are marked Mandarin. The community dictionary is not independently verified by zimai.

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Reading & tones

Schematic citation-tone diagrams from the source numbers. These are not recordings or predictions of connected speech.

Same syllable, six tones

caam参caam1to take part in惨caam2miserable杉caam3China fir馋caam4gluttonouscaam5—caam6—

Characters whose customary Unihan reading (kCantonese) is this syllable in each tone, chosen as in the tone atlas (2013 standard level, then the number of CC-CEDICT words they form), with CC-Canto 2017's meaning for that reading; a dash means no catalogue character has that reading. Checked syllables (-p, -t, -k) normally carry tones 1, 3 and 6. Character readings, not word readings; no frequency implied.

Explore words with this reading ↗

Written characters

參参

Both source spellings are represented. Written membership is not an etymological or semantic claim.

Cantonese entries with 參 ↗Cantonese entries with 参 ↗

Cantonese characters and the Mandarin bridge ↗

Mandarin comparison · separate source entries

CC-CEDICT, the Mandarin–English dictionary, lists the same written form:

  • 參 sān CC-CEDICT · Mandarinthree (banker's anti-fraud numeral)
  • 參 cān CC-CEDICT · Mandarinto take part in; to participate; to join; to attend; to counsel; unequal; varied; irregular; …
  • 參 cēn CC-CEDICT · Mandarinused in 參差 cēn cī

A separate source entry, shown for comparison. The same characters can carry different senses in Mandarin and in Cantonese; zimai does not align these senses.

CC-Canto includes this pinyin reference: can1. It does not establish a Mandarin word with the same meaning.

Look up this spelling in the Mandarin dictionary ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 15 senses · 4 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

caam1 · cam1 · saam1 · sam1

Cantonese word readings for 參. 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

  1. (～宿) (Chinese astronomy) Three Stars mansion (one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions)
  2. a surname

character · Etymology 2

  1. ginseng or any other similar plant
  2. (abbreviation, alt-of) short for 海參／海参 (hǎishēn, “sea cucumber”)

character · Etymology 3

  1. to join; to take part
  2. to consult
  3. (literary) to examine; to inspect
  4. (literary) to investigate and understand
  5. to pay visit to a superior
  6. (historical) to impeach an official before the emperor
  7. (literary) to form a trio with two other things

character · Etymology 4

  1. (obsolete or financial) alternative form of 三 (“three”)

character · Etymology 5

  1. only used in 參差／参差 (cēncī) and 參錯／参错 (cēncuò)

character · Etymology 6

  1. (Siyi Yue) clever; capable; competent; powerful

character · Etymology 7

  1. (Cantonese) hostage (Classifier: 條／条 c)

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

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

CC-Canto · Pleco Inc. · edition 2017-02-02
Source lines 3,170, 26,230, 26,231, 26,232, 26,233, 26,234, 26,235, 26,236, 26,237 · Original publisher · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Edition & transformations

Original source comment: adapted from cc-cedict

Original source comment: adapted from cc-cedict

Original source comment: adapted from cc-cedict

Original source comment: adapted from cc-cedict

Original source comment: adapted from cc-cedict

Original source comment: adapted from cc-cedict

Original source comment: adapted from cc-cedict

Original source comment: adapted from cc-cedict

Mandarin comparison: CC-CEDICT 2026-10-13, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source reading differences and six-tone sets: computed by zimai from Unihan 17.0.0 (Unicode License V3).

Exact source records & identity參 参 [can1] {caam1} /to enter (a competition)/

SHA-256: 4b90dd6e85647511c45e37ff22b126ca45cde9eab4d2dfa7ce35009d8e7f6bc1

參 参 [can1] {caam1} /to take part in/to participate/to join/to attend/to counsel/to call on/to censure/to pay respects/to soar aloft/to reach into the realm of understanding/to impeach/to recommend someone to a post/to examine/unequal/varied/irregular/uneven/not uniform/abbr. for 参议院 Senate, Upper House/to intervene/ # adapted from cc-cedict

SHA-256: ca60b4c2ae3e4add4b22d6d407fdc9a02e64ae4067d3038cced4885a7f861490

參 参 [can1] {cam1} /to take part in/to participate/to join/to attend/to counsel/to call on/to censure/to pay respects/to soar aloft/to reach into the realm of understanding/to impeach/to recommend someone to a post/to examine/unequal/varied/irregular/uneven/not uniform/abbr. for 参议院 Senate, Upper House/to intervene/ # adapted from cc-cedict

SHA-256: 23e226d821cee54c64c3a97ba04799d90d645f02840ab848e1d21f9039557093

參 参 [can1] {saam1} /three (banker's anti-fraud numeral)/ # adapted from cc-cedict

SHA-256: e005f3519f2f52ce04c0a64b11c59582b52e8f21f7768f9ee747414f29c9e821

參 参 [can1] {sam1} /ginseng/sea cucumber/one of the 28 constellations/ransom/ # adapted from cc-cedict

SHA-256: ac708678c8addcc8de1a212cea29e2d6a9a5df1833ea413aab3b935aef6c1057

參 参 [san1] {caam1} /to take part in/to participate/to join/to attend/to counsel/to call on/to censure/to pay respects/to soar aloft/to reach into the realm of understanding/to impeach/to recommend someone to a post/to examine/unequal/varied/irregular/uneven/not uniform/abbr. for 参议院 Senate, Upper House/to intervene/ # adapted from cc-cedict

SHA-256: 4648205686fedd65b72c43e21d1f2ce56c23b2c8833ede295d1f3482de296189

參 参 [san1] {cam1} /to take part in/to participate/to join/to attend/to counsel/to call on/to censure/to pay respects/to soar aloft/to reach into the realm of understanding/to impeach/to recommend someone to a post/to examine/unequal/varied/irregular/uneven/not uniform/abbr. for 参议院 Senate, Upper House/to intervene/ # adapted from cc-cedict

SHA-256: 73a63376860bb1bfd477fd1088ee2c86b118669752b566a93b9ab6c5f0c27d71

參 参 [san1] {saam1} /three (banker's anti-fraud numeral)/ # adapted from cc-cedict

SHA-256: 5be1dd8f39307bc2c1cbdbea3e242f2c55745cab15827d48e95fe81026792479

參 参 [san1] {sam1} /ginseng/sea cucumber/one of the 28 constellations/ransom/ # adapted from cc-cedict

SHA-256: e7b352a01abc77ecb20ce644c48379f91c16db58732c6a189cd31842cdcc983f