毛子

Chinese

		hair; fur; one tenth of a yuan or dollar	child; son; (noun suffix) child; son; (noun suffix); small thing; seed; egg; 1st earthly branch; 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight
simp. and trad. (毛子)		毛	子

Etymology

Used most prominently during the time of the Boxer Rebellion. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Standard)
(Pinyin): máozi

(Zhuyin): ㄇㄠˊ ˙ㄗ

(Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): мозы (mozɨ, I-0)
Cantonese (Jyutping): mou⁴ zi²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: máozi
  - Zhuyin: ㄇㄠˊ ˙ㄗ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: máozi̊h
  - Wade–Giles: mao²-tzŭ⁵
  - Yale: máu-dz
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: mau.tzy
  - Palladius: маоцзы (maoczy)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɑʊ̯³⁵ d͡z̥z̩³/
- (Dungan)
  - Cyrillic and Wiktionary: мозы (mozɨ, I-0)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɔ²⁴ t͡sz̩⁰/
  (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
  - Jyutping: mou⁴ zi²
  - Yale: mòuh jí
  - Cantonese Pinyin: mou⁴ dzi²
  - Guangdong Romanization: mou⁴ ji²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mou̯²¹ t͡siː³⁵/
  - Homophones:
    ^edit
    ^edit
    模子
    毛子

Noun

毛子

(slang, sometimes pejorative, ethnic slur) foreigner; white man
1. (specifically) Russian person, Russki
(obsolete) bandit; brigand; outlaw
bits of wool or thread

Synonyms

(foreigner):

Dialectal synonyms of 西方人 (“Westerner; Caucasian”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		西方人, 西洋人, 洋人, 白人, 白種人
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	老外, 毛子
	Taiwan	洋人, 西洋人, 白人, 老外
	Malaysia	紅毛人
	Singapore	洋人, 外國佬
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	洋人, 洋鬼子
Central Plains Mandarin	Wanrong	洋人
Central Plains Mandarin	Xi'an	洋人
Lanyin Mandarin	Lanzhou	洋人
Southwestern Mandarin	Wuhan	洋人, 高鼻子
Southwestern Mandarin	Liuzhou	番鬼佬
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	洋鬼子
Cantonese	Guangzhou	西人, 老西, 老番, 鬼佬, 番鬼佬, 鬼子佬, 紅毛頭, 紅毛 dated, 紅毛鬼 dated
	Hong Kong	西人, 白人, 鬼佬, 番鬼佬, 老番 dated, 紅毛鬼 dated, 白鬼 dated
	Macau	鬼佬
	Taishan	老番, 番鬼佬
	Kaiping (Chikan)	老番, 番鬼, 番鬼佬, 紅毛
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	鬼佬
	Singapore (Guangfu)	鬼佬
Gan	Nanchang	洋人
	Lichuan	洋人
	Pingxiang	洋人
Hakka	Meixian	番人, 番鬼仔
	Yudu	洋人
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	洋人, 西洋人, 阿啄仔, 鉤鼻仔, 紅毛番
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	洋人, 西洋人, 阿啄仔, 鉤鼻仔, 紅毛番
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	洋人, 西洋人, 阿啄仔, 鉤鼻仔, 紅毛番
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	洋人, 西洋人, 鉤鼻公, 紅毛番
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	洋人, 西洋人, 阿啄仔, 鉤鼻仔, 紅毛番
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	西洋人, 紅毛番
	Kuching (Hepo)	紅毛人
Southern Min	Xiamen	番仔, 阿啄仔, 紅毛番, 𧺤毛的, 番仔鬼
	Quanzhou	番仔, 紅毛番, 𧺤毛的
	Zhangzhou	番仔, 紅毛番, 𧺤毛的
	Kaohsiung	紅毛仔
	Changhua (Lukang)	阿啄仔
	Taichung	啄鼻仔
	Taichung (Wuqi)	阿啄仔
	Tainan	西洋儂, 阿啄仔, 啄鼻仔
	Taitung	阿啄仔
	Penang (Hokkien)	紅毛, 紅毛猴
	Singapore (Hokkien)	紅毛, 紅毛儂, 紅毛猴
	Manila (Hokkien)	西方人, 西洋儂, 白種人, 化人 dated
	Shantou	番儂, 紅毛囝, 番囝
	Jieyang	紅毛, 紅毛囝, 紅毛鬼
	Singapore (Teochew)	紅毛, 紅毛儂
	Leizhou	鉤鼻鬼
	Haikou	番鬼, 紅毛, 高鼻綠目, 高鼻塌目
Wu	Shanghai	洋人
Wu	Wenzhou	番人, 高鼻頭
Xiang	Changsha	紅毛洋人, 洋人子, 洋人

(Russian person):

Dialectal synonyms of 俄羅斯人 (“Russian person”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		俄羅斯人, 俄國人
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	俄國人
	Taiwan	俄羅斯人, 俄國人
	Harbin	毛子, 老毛子
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	老毛子
Central Plains Mandarin	Sokuluk (Gansu Dungan)	老毛子
Central Plains Mandarin	Masanchin (Shaanxi Dungan)	老毛子
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	老毛子
Cantonese	Hong Kong	俄羅斯人, 俄國人, 俄國佬
Jin	Taiyuan	俄毛子

(bandit):

edit

刀刀兒客／刀刀儿客 (dao¹ daor¹ ke²) (Sichuanese, dated)
劫匪 (jiéfěi)
匪徒 (fěitú)
匪盜／匪盗 (fěidào)
土匪 (tǔfěi)
強盜／强盗 (qiángdào)
強貢／强贡 (Hokkien)
強賊／强贼 (Hokkien)
搶劫犯／抢劫犯 (qiǎngjiéfàn)
棒客 (bang⁴ ke²) (Sichuanese)
棒老二 (bang⁴ nao³ er⁴) (Sichuanese)
盜匪／盗匪 (dàofěi)
盜寇／盗寇 (dàokòu)
盜賊／盗贼 (dàozéi)
盜隔山／盗隔山 (⁶dau-kaq-se) (Wu, humorous)
鬍匪／胡匪 (húfěi)
鬍子／胡子 (húzi) (Northeastern Mandarin, dated)

Derived terms

二毛子
俄毛子 (émáozi)
毛妹 (máomèi)
紅毛子／红毛子 (hóngmáozi)
老毛子 (lǎomáozi)