DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

發動

简发动 · 繁發動

Mandarin · pinyin fā dòng

to start
to launch
to unleash
to mobilize
to arouse

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Characters in this entry

發: fā · issue, dispatch, send out, emit
動: dòng · move, happen; movement, action
发: fā · issue, dispatch, send out; hair
动: dòng · move, happen; movement, action

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4 · fa1 dong4

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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.

發動 · find source passages ↗ · 发动 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

faat3 dung6

Cantonese word readings for 發動. 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 start; to initiate; to launch; to unleash; to wage
to mobilize; to arouse

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

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