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闕

简阙 · 繁闕

Mandarin · pinyin quē#

used in place of 缺 (old)
mistake

Mandarin · pinyin què#

Imperial city watchtower (old)
fault
deficiency

Mandarin · pinyin Què#

surname Que

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Characters in this entry

闕: Look up this written character
阙: quē · watch tower; palace

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

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Mandarin tones

1 · que1

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Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

1character link5same-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.

闕 · find source passages ↗ · 阙 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 8 senses · 2 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gwat6 · kyut3

Cantonese word readings for 闕. 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

(historical) watchtower that flanks both sides of a palace's gates
(archaic) imperial palace
a surname
(proscribed) alternative form of 闋 /阕 (què)

character

fault; error; mistake
(archaic, ancient southwestern China, supposition/tentative/presumed only) to tuck (in or behind)
(alt-of, alternative) alternative form of 缺 (quē, “to lack; to be deficient”)

character

(alt-of, alternative) alternative form of 掘 (jué, “to dig; to excavate”)

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

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