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點頭之交

简点头之交 · 繁點頭之交

Mandarin · pinyin diǎn tóu zhī jiāo

nodding acquaintance

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Characters in this entry

點: diǎn · dot, speck, spot; point, degree
頭: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
交: jiāo · mix; intersect; exchange, communicate; deliver
点: diǎn · dot, speck, spot; point, degree
头: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2–1–1 · dian3 tou2 zhi1 jiao1

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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.

點頭之交 · find source passages ↗ · 点头之交 · find source passages ↗

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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

nodding acquaintance

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

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