十 二 支

shí èr zhīdictionary entry

the 12 earthly branches 子[zǐ], 丑, 寅, 卯, 辰, 巳, 午, 未, 申, 酉, 戌, 亥 (used cyclically in the calendar and as ordinal number)

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-b3d5b359b270b324. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

十二支 十二支 [shi2 er4 zhi1] /the 12 earthly branches 子[zi3], 丑, 寅, 卯, 辰, 巳, 午, 未, 申, 酉, 戌, 亥 (used cyclically in the calendar and as ordinal number)/

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.

十
shí
ten / 10
二
èr
two / 2 / (Beijing dialect) stupid
支
zhī
to support / to sustain / to erect / to raise / branch / division / to draw money / classifier for rods such as pens and guns, for army divisions and for songs or compositions
Zhī
surname Zhi

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.