DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

省

Mandarin · pinyin shěng#

to save; to economize; to be frugal
to omit; to delete; to leave out
province
provincial capital
a ministry (of the Japanese government)

Mandarin · pinyin xǐng#

(bound form) to scrutinize
(bound form) to reflect (on one's conduct)
(bound form) to come to realize
(bound form) to pay a visit (to one's parents or elders)

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Characters in this entry

省: shěng · province; save, economize

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

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Mandarin tones

3 · sheng3

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1character link4same-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.

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

saang2 · sing2

Cantonese word readings for 省. 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.

character · Etymology 1

to omit; to leave out
to reduce; to simplify
(colloquial, by extension) to have less strange, potentially genius but generally lousy ideas for the sake of others to save worry
to save; to economize
(literary) palace
(historical, by extension) department (of a government)
(historical, by extension) department (of a government) — ministry of the Japanese or North Korean government
province; (originally) short for 行省 (xíngshěng) (Classifier: 個／个 m c)
provincial capital
provincial capital — (chiefly Guangdong, especially) Guangzhou
a surname

character · Etymology 2

to examine; to inspect
to greet; to visit
to understand; to comprehend

character · Etymology 3

(Hokkien) alternative form of 啥 (siáⁿ, “what”)

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

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