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錦鯉

简锦鲤 · 繁錦鯉

Mandarin · pinyin jǐn lǐ

koi (Cyprinus carpio haematopterus)

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Characters in this entry

錦: Look up this written character
鯉: Look up this written character
锦: jǐn · brocade, tapestry; embroidered
鲤: lǐ · carp

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3 · jin3 li3

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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.

錦鯉 · find source passages ↗ · 锦鲤 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 5 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gam2 lei5

Cantonese word readings for 錦鯉. 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.

noun · Etymology 1

koi
(slang, neologism) good luck
(slang, neologism) good luck charm; talisman
(slang, neologism) lucky person

phrase · Etymology 2

(Hong Kong Cantonese, Internet slang, leetspeak, neologism) … you … then? Used in rhetorical sentences where the speaker does not want to refer directly to "you", which otherwise may cause fury in the discussion.

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

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