要
Meanings · jiu1
- to demand
- to extort
- to force
- to coerce
- to threaten
- to blackmail
- to ambush and capture
- to sum it up
Meanings · jiu2
- a type of top breed horse
Meanings · jiu3
- important
- vital
- to want
- to ask for
- will
- going to (as future auxiliary)
- may
- must
- (used in a comparison) must be
- probably
- if
- essential points
- necessary
- necessity
- to desire
- to need
- should
About these definitions
Source definition segments, in their original order. Characters a definition cites are shown without their Mandarin pinyin; classifier lists that CC-Canto copied from CC-CEDICT are marked Mandarin. The community dictionary is not independently verified by zimai.
Reading & tones
Schematic citation-tone diagrams from the source numbers. These are not recordings or predictions of connected speech.
Tone difference from Unihan
- 要 is read jiu1 here; Unihan’s citation reading is jiu3. Same syllable, different tone across these source readings. CC-Canto also lists 要 jiu1 as its own entry.
Computed by zimai: each syllable of the CC-Canto word reading is compared with Unihan 17.0.0 kCantonese for its character. The comparison does not say why a reading differs (a changed tone, 變音, a reading tied to one meaning, or a source variant).
Same syllable, six tones
Characters whose customary Unihan reading (kCantonese) is this syllable in each tone, chosen as in the tone atlas (2013 standard level, then the number of CC-CEDICT words they form), with CC-Canto 2017's meaning for that reading; a dash means no catalogue character has that reading. Checked syllables (-p, -t, -k) normally carry tones 1, 3 and 6. Character readings, not word readings; no frequency implied.
Written characters
Both source spellings are represented. Written membership is not an etymological or semantic claim.
Mandarin comparison · separate source entries
CC-CEDICT, the Mandarin–English dictionary, lists the same written form:
- 要 yāo CC-CEDICT · Mandarin(bound form) to demand; to coerce
- 要 yào CC-CEDICT · Mandarinto want; to need; to ask for; will; shall; about to; need to; should; if (same as 要是 yào shi); (bound form) important
A separate source entry, shown for comparison. The same characters can carry different senses in Mandarin and in Cantonese; zimai does not align these senses.
CC-Canto includes this pinyin reference: yao4. It does not establish a Mandarin word with the same meaning.
Look up this spelling in the Mandarin dictionary ↗Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 21 senses · 3 Cantonese readings
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
jiu1 · jiu2 · jiu3
Cantonese word readings for 要. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack
Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
character
- to demand; to ask; to request
- to force; to coerce
- to promise
- to block; to intercept
- (obsolete) alternative form of 邀 (“to invite”)
- (obsolete) alternative form of 腰 (“waist”)
- (obsolete) contract of alliance
- a surname
character
- to want; to wish
- to wish to have or keep
- to ask for
- to request
- to need
- will; going to (future auxiliary)
- should; must; to have to
- vital; important
- important points; essentials
- if; in case of
- (dated Shanghainese) Used to indicate the future tense.
character
- (archaic) alternative form of 偠 (yǎo)
- used in 要褭／要袅
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack