DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
小
Mandarin · pinyin xiǎo
Meanings
- small
- tiny
- few
- young
Characters in this entry
- 小
- xiǎo · small, tiny, insignificant
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
3 · xiao3
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
1character link9same-tone records
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.
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 13 senses · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
siu2
Cantonese word readings for 小. 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
- small, tiny, little
- minor, petty
- briefly, for a short while
- slightly, a little
- young
- (the) youngest
- a young person; child, kid, baby
- Prefix used in front of family name to indicate informality or affection (for young people, 老 (lǎo) for elder people).
- (humble) my, our
- short for 小學／小学 (xiǎoxué, “primary school”) — Used in the abbreviation of the name of a primary school.
- short for 小學／小学 (xiǎoxué, “primary school”) — Used with a number to indicate the level of primary education.
- (dialectal) concubine
character · Etymology 2
- (chiefly Taiwan, vulgar) alternative form of 潲 (siâu), chiefly used in 三小 (sānxiǎo)
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
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