明理

Mandarin · pinyin míng lǐ

Meanings

  1. sensible
  2. reasonable
  3. an obvious reason, truth or fact
  4. to understand the reason or reasoning
Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

明
míng · bright, light, brilliant; clear
理
lǐ · reason, logic; manage
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

2–3 · ming2 li3

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

2character links
Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗
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.

明理 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ming4 lei5

Cantonese word readings for 明理. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

adj

  1. sensible; reasonable; having good sense

noun

  1. obvious truth or fact

verb

  1. to understand the reason

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

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