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尹

Mandarin · pinyin yǐn#

(literary) to administer; to govern
(bound form) governor; prefect; magistrate (official title in imperial times)

Mandarin · pinyin Yǐn#

surname Yin

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Characters in this entry

尹: yǐn · govern; oversee; director

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

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Mandarin tones

3 · yin3

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1character link25same-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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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

wan5

Cantonese word readings for 尹. 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

(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to govern; oversee
(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) director
a surname

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

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