DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

攝

简摄 · 繁攝

Mandarin · pinyin shè

(bound form) to take in; to absorb; to assimilate
to capture (video or still images)
(literary) to conserve (one's health)
(literary) to act for

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Characters in this entry

攝: Look up this written character
摄: shè · take in, absorb; act as deputy

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

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Mandarin tones

4 · she4

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1character link31same-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.

攝 · find source passages ↗ · 摄 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 22 senses · 3 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

nip6 · sip3 · zip3

Cantonese word readings for 攝. 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

to take in; to absorb; to extract; to assimilate
to take a photograph; to shoot
(literary) to hold; to grasp; to drag
(literary) to manage; to command; to administer
(literary) to act as an agent; to be a representative; to act as a proxy
(literary) to arrest; to apprehend
(literary) to draw; to attract
(literary) to assist
(literary) to be squeezed in between
(literary) to maintain one's health; to keep fit
(Chinese phonetics) rhyme group; rhyme class (one of 16 sets of 韻 in Middle Chinese)
(Hokkien) to fold; to pleat
(Hokkien) to hold back; to endure; to restrain oneself
(Mainland China Hokkien) to save; to economize; to cut down on
(Mainland China Hokkien) to tangle up; to twist together (of rope, string, etc.)
(Xiamen and Zhangzhou Hokkien) to be capable; to be competent (used with 會 and 𣍐)
(Taiwanese Hokkien) to have one's state of mind captured (by spirits, ghosts, demons, etc.)
(Taiwanese Hokkien) to wrinkle; to wilt; to wither; to shrivel; to crease
(Taiwanese Hokkien) to shrink back; to flinch; to cower; to recoil (especially in hesitation)

character · Etymology 2

(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) only used in 攝然／摄然 (nièrán)

character · Etymology 3

(Cantonese) to squeeze into; to wedge in
(Cantonese) to raise something by putting another thing underneath

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

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