衣食

Mandarin · pinyin yī shí

Meanings

  1. clothes and food
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Characters in this entry

衣
yī · clothes, clothing; cover, skin; Kangxi radical 145
食
shí · eat; meal; food; Kangxi radical 184
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–2 · yi1 shi2

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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

ji1 sik6

Cantonese word readings for 衣食. 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.

noun

  1. (literally) food and clothing
  2. (by extension) basic everyday necessities; means of subsistence
  3. (Eastern Min) omen; sign; harbinger
  4. (Taiwanese Hokkien, dated in Xiamen Hokkien) good fortune; good luck; boon; blessing; good omen

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

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