DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

子時

简子时 · 繁子時

Mandarin · pinyin zǐ shí

11 pm-1 am (in the system of two-hour subdivisions used in former times)

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

子: zǐ · offspring, child; fruit, seed of; first earthly branch
時: shí · time, season; era, age, period
时: shí · time, season; era, age, period

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

3–2 · zi3 shi2

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

3character links2same-tone records

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

子時 · find source passages ↗ · 子时 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

(literary) the hours of the rat (11:00pm to 1:00am)

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack