Reference articles on history, science, culture and more
Surprise meSurprise meSubscribe
Encyclopedia

Character dictionary

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
1 min read
Source updated January 29, 2026

Character dictionary (Chinese: 字典; Japanese: 字書), known as zìdiǎn in Mandarin Chinese, is a dictionary which lists individual Chinese characters (or kanji) and defines the characters' meanings, usages, and pronunciations. Character dictionaries are often arranged according to the shape of characters and usually include some rare characters.

Watch videos about Character dictionaryExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Character dictionary”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.

Continue exploring

Related topics

Chinese dictionary

There are two types of dictionaries regularly used in the Chinese language: 'character dictionaries' list individual Chinese characters, and 'word dictionaries' (辞典; 辭典; cídiǎn) list words and phrases. Because tens of thousands of characters have been used in written Chinese, Chinese lexicographers have developed a number of methods to order and sort characters to facilitate more convenient reference.

Japanese dictionary

Japanese dictionaries have a history that began over 1300 years ago when Japanese Buddhist priests, who wanted to understand Chinese sutras, adapted Chinese character dictionaries. Present-day Japanese lexicographers are exploring computerized editing and electronic dictionaries.