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泛指

Mandarin · pinyin fàn zhǐ

to make a general reference
to be used in a general sense

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Characters in this entry

泛: fàn · to drift, float; careless, reckless
指: zhǐ · finger, toe; point, indicate

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3 · fan4 zhi3

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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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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

faan3 zi2

Cantonese word readings for 泛指. 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.

verb

to make a general reference; to refer generally to; to be used in a general sense; to not be directed to anything in particular

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

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