太
Meanings
- highest
- greatest
- too (much)
- very
- extremely
Characters in this entry
- 太
- tài · very, too, much; big; extreme
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
4 · tai4
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
Sentences in context
Exact source-spelling matches. Open the reader for dictionary lookups, construction notes and related examples. Occurrence does not establish a particular dictionary sense.
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 Rime · Wiktionary
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
taai3
Cantonese word readings for 太. 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
- too; so (modifying adjectives; often used with 了 (le) at the end of the sentence for emphasis)
- (usually in negative sentences) very; quite
- most; utmost
- highest; greatest
- senior; noble
- (of relatives of older generations) great-
- (abbreviation, alt-of) short for 太湖 (Tài Hú, “Lake Tai, a lake in Southern Jiangsu, China”)
- (abbreviation, alt-of) short for 太平洋 (Tàipíngyáng, “Pacific Ocean”)
character · Etymology 1
- (abbreviation, alt-of) short for 太太 (tàitai, “wife; Miss; Mrs”)
character · Etymology 1
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) only used in 太末
character · Etymology 2
- (Korean Classical Chinese) soybean
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack