昆 is also the simplified spelling of 崐, 崑.

昆

Mandarin · pinyin kūn

Meanings

  1. descendant
  2. elder brother
  3. a style of Chinese poetry
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Characters in this entry

昆
kūn · elder brother; descendants
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1 · kun1

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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 Rime · Wiktionary

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gwan1 · kwan1

Cantonese word readings for 昆. 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. (obsolete) together
  2. (literary) elder brother
  3. (literary) descendants
  4. (obsolete) later
  5. (obsolete) many; numerous
  6. (obsolete) alternative form of 焜 (kūn)
  7. (abbreviation, alt-of) short for 昆明 (Kūnmíng)
  8. a surname
  9. (Mainland China) quetta- (SI unit prefix)

character · Etymology 2

  1. (alt-of, alternative) only used in 昆侖/昆仑 (húnlún), alternative form of 渾淪 /浑沦

character · Etymology 3

  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of 混 (“to unite”)
  2. 54th tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "unity" (𝌻)

character · Etymology 4

  1. (Cantonese) to deceive; to fool

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

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