表象

Mandarin · pinyin biǎo xiàng

Meanings

  1. outward appearance
  2. superficial
  3. (philosophy, psychology) representation
  4. idea
  5. (math.) representation
Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

表
biǎo · show, express, manifest, display
象
xiàng · elephant; ivory; figure, image
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

3–4 · biao3 xiang4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

2character links
Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗
Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

表象 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

  1. appearance
  2. idea; presentation; image
  3. representation
  4. (psychology, chiefly Mainland China) mental image

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

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

表象 · biao3 xiang4
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 98,572
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record表象 表象 [biao3 xiang4] /outward appearance/superficial/(philosophy, psychology) representation/idea/(math.) representation/