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名士

Mandarin · pinyin míng shì

(old) a person of literary talent; a celebrity (esp. a distinguished literary person having no official post)

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Characters in this entry

名: míng · name, rank, title, position
士: shì · scholar, gentleman; soldier

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4 · ming2 shi4

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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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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

noun

(Classical) famous literary figure
(Classical) renowned individual without an official position
(Classical) official in charge of criminal prosecution
(Classical) talented yet unconventional individual

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

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