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鴛鴦蝴蝶

简鸳鸯蝴蝶 · 繁鴛鴦蝴蝶

Mandarin · pinyin yuān yang hú dié

Mandarin ducks and butterfly (i.e. love birds)
derogatory reference to populist and romantic writing around 1900

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Characters in this entry

鴛: Look up this written character
鴦: Look up this written character
蝴: hú · butterfly
蝶: dié · butterfly
鸳: yuān · male mandarin duck (Aix galericulata)
鸯: yāng · female mandarin duck (Aix galericulata)

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

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Mandarin tones

1–5–2–2 · yuan1 yang5 hu2 die2

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) mandarin ducks and butterflies (i.e. love birds)
(derogatory) Used in reference to populist and romantic writing around 1900

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

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