DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

命

Mandarin · pinyin mìng

life
fate
order or command
to assign a name, title etc

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Characters in this entry

命: mìng · life; destiny, fate, luck; an order, instruction

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

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Mandarin tones

4 · ming4

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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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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

meng6 · ming6

Cantonese word readings for 命. 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

life; existence; state of living (Classifier: 條／条 m c)
lifespan; life expectancy
destiny; fate; luck
order; command; instruction
to order; to command
to give (a title, name to); to name

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

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