DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
愛
简 爱 · 繁 愛Mandarin · pinyin ài
Meanings
- to love; to be fond of; to like
- affection
- to be inclined (to do sth); to tend to (happen)
Characters in this entry
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Mandarin tones
4 · ai4
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
2character links31same-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 · 16 senses · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
oi3
Cantonese word readings for 愛. 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
- to love
- to treasure; to value
- to like; to be fond of; to be keen on
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to begrudge; to be reluctant
- to be prone; to be easy to
- love; affection
- love; benevolence
- something one loves; someone whom one loves
- Honorific for someone else's daughter; variant of 嬡／嫒 (ài).
- beloved
- (Cantonese, Hakka, Wu, Hokkien, Teochew) to want (an object)
- (Hakka, Min, dated in Cantonese) to want (to do)
- (Hakka, Min) to need to; must
- (archaic) alternative form of 薆 /𫉁 (ài, “ài”)
- a surname
- (Internet slang) to abuse; to harm; to maltreat
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
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