DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

通用

Mandarin · pinyin tōng yòng

to use anywhere, anytime (card, ticket etc)
to be used by everyone (language, textbook etc)
(of two or more things) interchangeable

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Characters in this entry

通: tōng · pass through; common; communicate
用: yòng · use, employ, apply, operate; use

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4 · tong1 yong4

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

tung1 jung6

Cantonese word readings for 通用. 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.

verb

to be in common use

adj

(attributive) interchangeable
(attributive, computing) interoperable

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

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