空
Characters in this entry
- 空
- kōng · empty, hollow, bare, deserted
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
1 · kong1
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
Sentences in context
Exact source-spelling matches. Open the reader for dictionary lookups, construction notes and related examples. Occurrence does not establish a particular dictionary sense.
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.
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 24 senses · 2 Cantonese readings
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
hung1 · hung3
Cantonese word readings for 空. 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
- empty; hollow; void
- exhausted; emptied
- open; spacious; vast
- quiet and still; secluded
- lacking substance; fictitious; fabricated
- (Eastern Min) hungry
- air; sky; atmosphere
- space; outer space; cosmos; universe
- (Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism) sunyata; emptiness; void of the world of the senses
- (Taoism) emptiness and quiet
- in vain; for nothing
- only (left, remain, etc.)
- to exhaust
- to miss the target
- (Southern Min, Taiwanese Hakka) hole; cavity
character
- to make empty; to impoverish
- to leave empty; to leave blank
- vacant; unoccupied; available
- spare time; free time; leisure
- empty space; room
- (of time) gap; interval; break
- chance; opportunity
- (Southern Min) zero
character
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of 孔 (kǒng, “hole; cave; mouth”)
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack