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口德

Mandarin · pinyin kǒu dé

propriety in speech

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Characters in this entry

口: kǒu · mouth; open end; entrance, gate
德: dé · ethics, morality, virtue

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2 · kou3 de2

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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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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hau2 dak1

Cantonese word readings for 口德. 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.

noun

virtue of being discreet and restrained in one's speech, and avoiding making injurious remarks on others

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

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