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嫡子

Mandarin · pinyin dí zǐ

son, esp. the eldest son, of the wife (contrasted with 庶子 shù zǐ)

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Characters in this entry

嫡: dí · legal wife, child of legal wife
子: zǐ · offspring, child; fruit, seed of; first earthly branch

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

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Mandarin tones

2–3 · di2 zi3

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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 · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dik1 zi2

Cantonese word readings for 嫡子. 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

(chiefly historical) son of one's legal wife (as opposed to a concubine)
(chiefly historical) son of one's legal wife (as opposed to a concubine) — (specifically) eldest son of one's legal wife (as opposed to one's concubine)

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

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