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放

Mandarin · pinyin fàng

Meanings

  1. to put
  2. to place
  3. to release
  4. to free
  5. to let go
  6. to let out
  7. to set off (fireworks)
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Characters in this entry

放
fàng · put, release, free, liberate
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Entries containing 放 ↗Words written with 放 ↗

Mandarin tones

4 · fang4

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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 · 22 senses · 2 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

fong2 · fong3

Cantonese word readings for 放. 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

  1. to release; to free; to liberate
  2. to let out; to let go; to launch; to shoot
  3. to put; to place; to set down
  4. to lay aside
  5. (of a flower) to open out
  6. to expand; to enlarge; to extend
  7. to cause to fall down; to knock down
  8. to put on; to play (a recording)
  9. to take livestock out to feed on grass; to graze; to put out to pasture; to herd
  10. to ignite; to set on fire; to light; to kindle
  11. to distribute; to hand out; to issue; to dispense
  12. to lend (to allow to be used temporarily)
  13. (Cantonese) unbridled; without restraints or limits
  14. (Sichuanese) to betroth (one's daughter) to somebody
  15. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to cause; to make
  16. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to banish; to exile
  17. (Teochew, Singapore Hokkien) at (used after a verb)

character · Etymology 2

  1. (alt-of, alternative) alternative form of 仿 (“to imitate; to resemble”)
  2. to base on
  3. to reach
  4. a surname, Fang

character · Etymology 4

  1. (Hokkien) alternative form of 囥 (khǹg)

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

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