DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
含
Mandarin · pinyin hán
Meanings
- to keep in the mouth
- to contain
Characters in this entry
- 含
- hán · hold in mouth; cherish; contain
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
2 · han2
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
1character link28same-tone records
Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.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 Wiktionary · 9 senses · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
ham4
Cantonese word readings for 含. 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.
character · Etymology 1
- to hold or keep in the mouth
- to contain inside; to comprise; to include
- (literary, or in compounds) to bear; to endure
- to harbor (emotion); to nurse; to endure; to hold back
- (Hong Kong Cantonese, euphemistic) short for 含撚 (all senses)
- a surname, Han
character · Etymology 2
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) original form of 琀 (hàn, “gems and pearls stuffed into a corpse's mouth”)
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to put gems and pearls into a corpse's mouth
character · Etymology 3
- (biblical) Ham
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack