DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

鍵

简键 · 繁鍵

Mandarin · pinyin jiàn

key (on a piano or computer keyboard)
button (on a mouse or other device)
chemical bond
linchpin

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Characters in this entry

鍵: Look up this written character
键: jiàn · door bolt, lock bolt; key

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

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Mandarin tones

4 · jian4

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Connected dictionary

1character link69same-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.

鍵 · find source passages ↗ · 键 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 6 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gin6

Cantonese word readings for 鍵. 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

(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) door bolt, lock bolt
(music) key (lever on a musical keyboard)
key (button on a typewriter or computer keyboard)
to type
(chemistry) bond
(computing) key (value that uniquely identifies an entry in a container)

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

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