賣身契

简 卖身契 · 繁 賣身契
Mandarin · pinyin mài shēn qì

Meanings

  1. contract selling a person into servitude
Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

賣
Look up this written character
身
shēn · body; trunk, hull; Kangxi radical 158
契
qì · deed, contract, bond; engrave
卖
mài · sell; betray; show off
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–1–4 · mai4 shen1 qi4

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.

賣身契 · find source passages ↗ · 卖身契 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

maai6 san1 kai3

Cantonese word readings for 賣身契. 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.

noun

  1. (archaic) indenture for sale of oneself or one's family member

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

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