醋

Mandarin · pinyin cù

Meanings

  1. vinegar
  2. jealousy (in love rivalry)
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Characters in this entry

醋
cù · vinegar; jealousy, envy
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4 · cu4

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1character link21same-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 · 4 senses · 2 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

cou3 · zok6

Cantonese word readings for 醋. 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

  1. vinegar
  2. (figurative, chiefly between lovers) jealousy; envy; bitterness
  3. (Hainanese, figurative) glutton

character · Etymology 2

  1. ancient written form of 酢 (“to toast back to the host”).

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

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