減

简 减 · 繁 減
Mandarin · pinyin jiǎn

Meanings

  1. to lower
  2. to decrease
  3. to reduce
  4. to subtract
  5. to diminish
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Characters in this entry

減
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减
jiǎn · decrease, subtract, diminish
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3 · jian3

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1character link55same-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.

減 · find source passages ↗ · 减 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gaam2

Cantonese word readings for 減. 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.

character · Etymology 1

  1. to decrease; to subtract; to diminish
  2. (arithmetic) to subtract
  3. 55th tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "diminishment" (𝌼)
  4. (chemistry) basic
  5. (Cantonese) to sweep (food over to another container)
  6. (Hokkien) to be short of

character · Etymology 2

  1. (Cantonese) Used after a verb or adjective to indicate partial attainment of an amount/degree.

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

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