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造

Mandarin · pinyin zào

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造: zào · construct, build, make, begin; prepare

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

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Mandarin tones

4 · zao4

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1character link27same-tone records

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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 · 17 senses · 3 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

cou3 · cou5 · zou6

Cantonese word readings for 造. 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

to make; to build; to manufacture
to make up; to fabricate
(literary) to start
(literary) to establish
(dialectal) harvest of crops
(dialectal) Classifier for harvests.

character · Etymology 2

(literary) to go to; to visit; to reach
(literary) attainments; achievements
(literary) to train
(literary) to give a life
(literary) era
(law) party concerned in the suit

character · Etymology 3

(regional Mandarin) A delexical verb. — to eat
(regional Mandarin) A delexical verb. — to use or spend recklessly; to ruin
(regional Mandarin) A delexical verb. — (alt. form 躁) to trample

character · Etymology 4

used in 新造 (xīnzào, “Xinzao, a town in Guangzhou”)

character · Etymology 5

(Mandarin, chiefly Taiwan, slang) contraction of 知道 (zhīdào)

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

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