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胡

Mandarin · pinyin hú#

non-Han people, esp. from central Asia
reckless
outrageous
what?
why?
to complete a winning hand at mahjong (also written 和 hú)

Mandarin · pinyin Hú#

surname Hu

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胡: hú · recklessly, foolishly; wildly

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

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Mandarin tones

2 · hu2

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1character link47same-tone records1source reference

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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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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 13 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

wu4

Cantonese word readings for 胡. 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

(obsolete) wattle; dewlap (fleshy lobe hanging from the head or neck of animals)
(obsolete) wattle-like object, such as pendent parts on implements
(literary) how; why; what
(historical) barbarian; a generic term for any non-Han peoples who lived to the north and west of China's borders
(historical) countries and peoples in the Western Regions, including Persia, Daqin, and in Pre-Tang texts, India
(by extension) introduced from the northern or western non-Han peoples or from abroad; non-Chinese; foreign; imported
(abbreviation, alt-of) short for 胡琴 (húqín, “huqin; general term for two-stringed bowed instruments with origins in the western non-Han peoples”)
(historical) (～國) State of Hu in the Spring and Autumn Period in modern-day Anhui, conquered by the State of Chu in 496 BCE
(historical) long-lived (used in posthumous names)
(obsolete) black; dark-skinned
(in compounds) great; big; senior
outrageously; recklessly; wildly; foolishly
a surname

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

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