DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

豆蔻年華

简豆蔻年华 · 繁豆蔻年華

Mandarin · pinyin dòu kòu nián huá

(idiom) (of a girl) 13 or 14 years old; early teens; adolescence

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

豆: dòu · beans, peas; bean-shaped; Kangxi radical 151
蔻: kòu · 肉豆蔻 nutmeg, 豆蔻 cardamon
年: nián · year; new-years; person's age
華: Look up this written character
华: huá · flowery; illustrious; Chinese

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–4–2–2 · dou4 kou4 nian2 hua2

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character 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.

豆蔻年華 · find source passages ↗ · 豆蔻年华 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dau6 kau3 nin4 waa4

Cantonese word readings for 豆蔻年華. 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.

phrase

(figuratively) thirteen to fourteen years of age (of a girl); maidenhood

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

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