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為

简 为 · 繁 為
Mandarin · pinyin wéi#

Meanings · wéi

  1. as (in the capacity of)
  2. to take sth as
  3. to act as
  4. to serve as
  5. to behave as
  6. to become
  7. to be
  8. to do
  9. by (in the passive voice)
Mandarin · pinyin wèi#

Meanings · wèi

  1. because of
  2. for
  3. to
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Characters in this entry

為
Look up this written character
为
wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Entries containing 為 ↗Words written with 為 ↗Words written with 为 ↗

Mandarin tones

2 · wei2

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Connected dictionary

1character link47same-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.

為 · find source passages ↗ · 为 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

wai4 · wai6

Cantonese word readings for 為. 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

  1. to do; to accomplish; to take action
  2. to administer; to govern
  3. to construct; to make; to produce
  4. to become; to turn into
  5. to be (equivalent to, equal to)
  6. to take something as
  7. to act as; to serve as; to behave as
  8. by
  9. Suffix used after a single-character adjective to form an adverb
  10. Suffix used after a single-character adverb for emphasis

character

  1. for; to serve; to assist; to do for others
  2. because of
  3. for the sake of; to take action because of a goal or purpose
  4. (literary) to

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

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

為 · wei2 · wei4
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source lines 69,445, 69,446
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source records為 为 [wei2] /as (in the capacity of)/to take sth as/to act as/to serve as/to behave as/to become/to be/to do/by (in the passive voice)/為 为 [wei4] /because of/for/to/