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外

Mandarin · pinyin wài

outside
in addition
foreign
external

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外: wài · out, outside, external; foreign

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

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Mandarin tones

4 · wai4

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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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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 10 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ngoi6

Cantonese word readings for 外. 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

out; outside; external
beyond; above; in addition to; other than; except
other; foreign; alien (not of one's own family, clan, locality, school, country, etc.)
foreign country
(literary) to alienate; to other; to exclude; to distance
relatives of one's mother, sister or daughter
additional
unofficial
(Southern Min, after a quantity) over; more than

character · Etymology 2

(Hokkien) alternative form of 偌

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

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