DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

定

Mandarin · pinyin dìng

to fix; to set; to make definite
to subscribe to (a newspaper etc); to book (tickets etc); to order (goods etc)
to congeal; to coagulate
(literary) definitely

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Characters in this entry

定: dìng · decide, settle, fix

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

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Mandarin tones

4 · ding4

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1character link18same-tone records

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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 · 19 senses · 3 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

deng6 · ding3 · ding6

Cantonese word readings for 定. 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

stable; steady; fixed
to fix; to stabilise
to put down; to suppress
to establish; to prepare the ground for
to decide; to resolve
to determine; to settle
to order; to reserve
certainly; definitely; surely
(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) after all; at all
(Cantonese) calm
(Cantonese) in advance
(Cantonese) short for 定係／定系 (“or”)
a surname
(～母) (Chinese linguistics) the Middle Chinese initial of 定 (MC dengH)

character

(～星) (Chinese astronomy) the Encampment, one of Twenty-Eight Mansions
(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) forehead
(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) original form of 錠／锭 (dìng, “Classifier for silver ingots or ink sticks.”)
(historical dictionaries only) A kind of hoe.

character

(Cantonese) Sentence final particle used to make assumptions.

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

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