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胜者王侯败者寇

shèng zhě wáng hóu bài zhě kòudictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
the winners become princes and marquises / the losers are vilified as bandits (idiom) / history is written by the victors
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-9316b5812b8e1bcc. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

勝者王侯敗者寇 胜者王侯败者寇 [sheng4 zhe3 wang2 hou2 bai4 zhe3 kou4] /the winners become princes and marquises; the losers are vilified as bandits (idiom)/history is written by the victors/

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: 勝者王侯敗者寇

  • 胜
    shèng

    victory / success / to beat / to defeat / to surpass / victorious / superior to / to get the better of / better than / surpassing / superb (of vista) / beautiful (scenery) / wonderful (view) / (Taiwan pr. [shēng]) able to bear / equal to (a task)

  • 者
    zhě

    (after a verb or adjective) one who (is) ... / (after a noun) person involved in ... / -er / -ist / (used after a number or 後|后[hòu] or 前[qián] to refer to sth mentioned previously) / (used after a term, to mark a pause before defining the term) / (old) (used at the end of a command) / (old) this

  • 王
    wáng

    king or monarch / best or strongest of its type / grand / great

    wàng

    (literary) (of a monarch) to reign over (a kingdom)

    Wáng

    surname Wang

  • 侯
    hóu

    marquis, second of the five orders of ancient Chinese nobility 五等爵位[wǔ děng jué wèi] / nobleman / high official

    hòu

    used in 閩侯|闽侯[Mǐn hòu] (the name of a place in Fujian)

    Hóu

    surname Hou

  • 败
    bài

    to defeat / to damage / to lose (to an opponent) / to fail / to wither

  • 者
    zhě

    (after a verb or adjective) one who (is) ... / (after a noun) person involved in ... / -er / -ist / (used after a number or 後|后[hòu] or 前[qián] to refer to sth mentioned previously) / (used after a term, to mark a pause before defining the term) / (old) (used at the end of a command) / (old) this

  • 寇
    kòu

    to invade / to plunder / bandit / foe / enemy

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.