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命根

Mandarin · pinyin mìng gēn

lifeblood
the thing that one cherishes most in life
(coll.) family jewels (male genitals)

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Characters in this entry

命: mìng · life; destiny, fate, luck; an order, instruction
根: gēn · root, base(d on); foundation

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1 · ming4 gen1

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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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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

meng6 gan1

Cantonese word readings for 命根. 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

lifeblood; the thing that one cherishes the most in life
taproot
(euphemistic) penis

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

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