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物以類聚

简物以类聚 · 繁物以類聚

Mandarin · pinyin wù yǐ lèi jù

similar things come together (idiom); like draws like
Birds of a feather flock together.

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Characters in this entry

物: wù · thing, substance, creature
以: yǐ · by means of; thereby, therefore; consider as; in order to
類: Look up this written character
聚: jù · assemble, meet together, collect
类: lèi · class, group, kind, category

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–4–4 · wu4 yi3 lei4 ju4

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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.

物以類聚 · find source passages ↗ · 物以类聚 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

mat6 ji5 leoi6 zeoi6

Cantonese word readings for 物以類聚. 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.

proverb

Birds of a feather flock together.

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

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