说 文 解 字

Shuō wén Jiě zìdictionary entry

Shuowen Jiezi, the earliest systematic Chinese character dictionary, compiled by Xu Shen 許慎|许慎[Xǔ Shèn] in the Eastern Han dynasty (2nd century), containing 10,516 entries

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-44f062723993ab7f. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

說文解字 说文解字 [Shuo1 wen2 Jie3 zi4] /Shuowen Jiezi, the earliest systematic Chinese character dictionary, compiled by Xu Shen 許慎|许慎[Xu3 Shen4] in the Eastern Han dynasty (2nd century), containing 10,516 entries/

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: 說文解字

说
shuì
to persuade
shuō
to speak / to talk / to say / to explain / to comment / to scold / to tell off / (bound form) theory / doctrine
文
wén
language / culture / writing / formal / literary / gentle / (old) classifier for coins / Kangxi radical 67
Wén
surname Wen
解
jiě
to divide / to break up / to split / to separate / to dissolve / to solve / to melt / to remove / to untie / to loosen / to open / to emancipate / to explain / to understand / to know / a solution / a dissection
jiè
to transport under guard
xiè
acrobatic display (esp. on horseback) (old)
Xiè
surname Xie
字
zì
letter / symbol / character / word / CL:個|个[gè] / courtesy or style name traditionally given to males aged 20 in dynastic China

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.