DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
象
Mandarin · pinyin xiàng
Meanings
- elephant
- Classifier: 隻 zhī
- shape
- form
- appearance
- to imitate
Characters in this entry
- 象
- xiàng · elephant; ivory; figure, image
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
4 · xiang4
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
1character link20same-tone records3source references
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.
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 18 senses · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
zoeng6
Cantonese word readings for 象. 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
- elephant (Classifier: 頭／头 m; 隻／只 m c mn)
- ivory; tusk
- (xiangqi) elephant: 🩩 (on the black side) (Classifier: 隻／只 c)
- (chess) bishop
- symbol; emblem
- appearance; shape; phenomenon
- (traditional Chinese medicine) complexion
- image; picture; portrait
- sign; indication
- (obsolete) law; legislation
- (obsolete) principle
- (obsolete) calendar
- (literary) to imitate; to follow the example of
- (literary) to trace; to outline; to depict
- to resemble
- (historical) government official that translates southern languages
- (～郡) (historical) Xiang, a commandery of Han China
- a surname
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
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