庸

Mandarin · pinyin yōng

Meanings

  1. ordinary
  2. to use
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Characters in this entry

庸
yōng · usual, common, ordinary, mediocre
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1 · yong1

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1character link35same-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 · 6 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jung4

Cantonese word readings for 庸. 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

  1. to use; to employ
  2. to need
  3. contribution; merit
  4. ordinary; common; (by extension) mediocre; inferior
  5. (literary, rhetorical question) how; how can it be that (used in rhetorical questions)
  6. a surname

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

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