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外wài

outside; external; foreign (外国); mother's side (外公, 外婆)

外 is outside — the outdoors, foreign countries, and your mother's family.

GF0025–2021 character list · 一级

One character pageAll readings and linked senses stay together.

WHOLE GLYPH & STRUCTURE

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ZDIC: 会意, 从夕、从卜 — the classic account links evening and divination to what lies outside.

left / right · 外

WHOLE CHARACTER

outside; external; foreign (外国); mother's side (外公, 外婆)

外 is outside — the outdoors, foreign countries, and your mother's family.

ZDIC: 会意, 从夕、从卜 — the classic account links evening and divination to what lies outside.

MEANING: EVENING

evening

Standalone meaning is kept separate from its role in other characters.

In 外: meaning: evening Shown with its documented or clearly limited role.

MEANING: DIVINATION

divination

Standalone meaning is kept separate from its associative role in 外.

In 外: meaning: divination Shown with its documented or clearly limited role.

wàiTone 4

Checking for a Mandarin voice…

ZDIC: 会意, 从夕、从卜 — the classic account links evening and divination to what lies outside.

多 duō — Shares a documented or visibly limited component with 外.

名 míng — Shares a documented or visibly limited component with 外.

岁 suì — Shares a documented or visibly limited component with 外.

桌 zhuō — Shares a documented or visibly limited component with 外.

Sources & verification

ZDIC single character entry — matched zdic; fields: pinyin, primary_definition, structure_strokes. Body SHA256: ab9df8642fb302f58bf01450d2c0a05338304e91141ed0597dfe816ca706bfdd. Captured 2026-11-01T01:46:48.294Z.
商务印书馆 Xinhua Dictionary official material — reference only; fields: edition, publication background. No specific character entry was obtained; dictionary fields are not covered.