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大意失荆州

dà yi shī Jīng zhōudictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. to lose Jingzhou due to carelessness (idiom) / fig. to suffer a major setback due to negligence
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-1dcf3226b7385ba9. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

大意失荊州 大意失荆州 [da4 yi5 shi1 Jing1 zhou1] /lit. to lose Jingzhou due to carelessness (idiom)/fig. to suffer a major setback due to negligence/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 大意失荊州

  • 大
    dà

    big / large / great / older (than another person) / eldest (as in 大姐[dà jiě]) / greatly / freely / fully / (dialect) father / (dialect) uncle (father's brother)

    dài

    see 大夫[dài fu]

  • 意
    yì

    (bound form) idea / thought / meaning / sense / (bound form) intention / feeling / inclination / state of mind / (bound form) Italy (abbr. for 意大利[Yì dà lì])

  • 失
    shī

    to lose / to miss / to fail

  • 荆
    jīng

    chaste tree or its berry (Vitex agnus-castus) / (literary) cane or switch made from a chaste tree, used for punishment

    Jīng

    an early name for the state of Chu 楚國|楚国[Chǔ guó] / surname Jing

  • 州
    zhōu

    prefecture / (old) province / (old) administrative division / state (e.g. of US) / oblast (Russia) / canton (Switzerland)

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.