切手

Chinese

		close to; to cut; to slice	hand; convenient; ‑er
simp. and trad. (切手)		切	手

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 切手(きって) (kitte).

Pronunciation

Hakka (Sixian, PFS): khit-té
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): khit-teh / chhiat-chhiú

Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: khit-té
  - Hakka Romanization System: kid^ˋ de^ˋ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: kid⁵ de³
  - Sinological IPA: /kʰit̚² te³¹/

Note: khit-té - from Japanese pronunciation.

Southern Min
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khit-teh
  - Tâi-lô: khit-teh
  - Phofsit Daibuun: qitdeq
  - IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /kʰit̚³²⁻⁴ teʔ³²/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chhiat-chhiú
  - Tâi-lô: tshiat-tshiú
  - Phofsit Daibuun: chiatchiuo
  - IPA (Taipei): /t͡sʰiɛt̚³²⁻⁴ t͡sʰiu⁵³/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sʰiɛt̚³²⁻⁴ t͡sʰiu⁴¹/

Note: khit-teh - from Japanese pronunciation.

Noun

切手

(Taiwanese Hakka, Taiwanese Hokkien) postage stamp

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 郵票 (“postage stamp”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		郵票
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	郵票
	Taiwan	郵票
	Singapore	郵票
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	郵票
Central Plains Mandarin	Wanrong	郵票
Central Plains Mandarin	Xi'an	郵票
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	郵票, 郵花兒
	Wuhan	郵花, 郵票, 印花
	Guiyang	郵票, 郵花
	Guilin	郵票
	Dagudi (Maliba)	郵票
	Reshuitang (Longling)	郵票
	Mae Salong (Lancang)	郵票
	Mae Sai (Tengchong)	郵票
Jianghuai Mandarin	Yangzhou	郵票
Jianghuai Mandarin	Hefei	郵票
Cantonese	Guangzhou	郵票, 士擔 dated
	Hong Kong	郵票, 士擔 dated
	Hong Kong (San Tin; Weitou)	士擔
	Taishan	郵票, 士擔
	Rongxian	郵票
	Hepu (Lianzhou)	郵票
	Hepu (Shatian)	郵票
	Beihai	郵票
	Beihai (Nankang)	郵票
	Beihai (Yingpan)	郵票
	Beihai (Qiaogang - Cô Tô)	郵票, 士擔
	Beihai (Qiaogang - Cát Bà)	郵票, 士擔
	Fangchenggang (Fangcheng)	郵票
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	郵票, stamp, 士膽 dated, 公仔頭 dated
	Ho Chi Minh City (Guangfu)	郵票
	Móng Cái	郵票, 士擔
	Yangon (Taishan)	郵票
	Bangkok (Guangfu)	郵票
	Betong (Rongxian)	郵票, 士擔
Gan	Nanchang	郵票
Gan	Lichuan	郵票
Hakka	Meixian	郵票
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	郵票, 切手
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	郵票, 切手
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	郵票, 切手
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	郵票, 切手
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	郵票, 切手
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	郵票, 切手
	Hong Kong	郵票
	Senai (Huiyang)	郵票
Jin	Taiyuan	郵票
Northern Min	Jian'ou	郵票
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	郵票
Southern Min	Xiamen	郵票
	Quanzhou	郵票
	Zhangzhou	郵票
	Taipei	郵票
	New Taipei (Sanxia)	郵票
	Kaohsiung	郵票
	Yilan	郵票
	Changhua (Lukang)	花仔紙, 郵票
	Taichung	郵票
	Tainan	尪仔頭, 郵票
	Hsinchu	郵票, 切手
	Kinmen	郵票
	Penghu (Magong)	郵票
	Penang (Hokkien)	stamp
	Chaozhou	郵票
	Shantou	郵票
	Jieyang	郵票
	Bangkok (Teochew)	郵票
	Chiang Mai (Teochew)	郵票
	Hat Yai (Teochew)	郵票
	Johor Bahru (Teochew)	郵票
	Singapore (Teochew)	郵票
	Pontianak (Teochew)	郵票
Puxian Min	Putian	郵政分, 郵政花
Puxian Min	Xianyou	郵政分
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	郵票
Wu	Shanghai	郵票
	Suzhou	郵票, 龍頭
	Wenzhou	郵票
Xiang	Changsha	郵花, 郵票
Xiang	Shuangfeng	郵花, 郵票

References

(Min Nan) “切手”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.
(Min Nan) “切手”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
切	手
きり > きっ Grade: 2	て Grade: 1
kun'yomi

From 切(きっ)符(ぷ) (kippu, “a ticket used for public transport”) + 手(て)形(がた) (tegata, “commercial paper”).^[1]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) きって [kìtté] (Heiban – [0])^[2]
IPA^(key): [kʲit̚te̞]

Noun

切(きっ)手(て) • (kitte)

a stamp; a substitute for postage stuck to the postcard

Derived terms

切(きっ)手(て)帳(ちょう) (kittechō, “stamp album; stamp booklet”)
切(きっ)手(て)集(あつ)め (kitteatsume, “stamp collecting”)
切(きっ)手(て)収(しゅう)集(しゅう) (kitte shūshū, “philately, stamp collecting”)
切(きっ)手(て)収(しゅう)集(しゅう)家(か) (kitte shūshūka, “philatelist, stamp collector”)
切(きっ)手(て)を溜(た)める (kitte o tameru, “to collect stamps”)
小(こ)切(ぎっ)手(て) (kogitte, “cheque”)
小(こ)切(ぎっ)手(て)外交(がいこう) (kogitte gaikō, “chequebook diplomacy”)
記(き)念(ねん)切(きっ)手(て) (kinen kitte, “special issue stamp”)
商(しょう)品(ひん)切(きっ)手(て) (shōhin kitte, “merchandise certificate”)
郵(ゆう)便(びん)切(きっ)手(て) (yūbin kitte, “postage stamp”)
偽(ぎ)小(こ)切(ぎっ)手(て) (gikogitte, “counterfeit cheque, bad paper”)
送(そう)金(きん)小(こ)切(ぎっ)手(て) (sōkin kogitte, “cashier's cheque, demand draft”)
保(ほ)証(しょう)小(こ)切(ぎっ)手(て) (hoshō kogitte, “certified cheque”)
旅(りょ)行(こう)小(こ)切(ぎっ)手(て) (ryokō kogitte, “traveler's cheque”)
使(し)用(よう)済(ず)み切(きっ)手(て) (shiyōzumi kitte, “used stamps”)
国(こく)際(さい)返(へん)信(しん)切(きっ)手(て)券(けん) (kokusai henshin kitte-ken, “international reply-paid coupon”)
不(ふ)渡(わた)り小(こ)切(ぎっ)手(て) (fuwatari kogitte, “dishonored cheque”)
旅(りょ)行(こう)者(しゃ)用(よう)小(こ)切(ぎっ)手(て) (ryokōsha-yō kogitte, “traveler's cheque”)
給(きゅう)料(りょう)支(し)払(はらい)小(こ)切(ぎっ)手(て) (kyūryō shiharai kogitte, “paycheque”)

Descendants

→ Chinese:
- Hakka: 切手 (khit-té) (Taiwan)
- Hokkien: 切手 (khit-teh) (Taiwan)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
切	手
き(れ) Grade: 2	て Grade: 1
kun'yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 切手 – see the following entry.

【切きれ手て】

[noun] man of ability

(This term, 切手, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

References

^ 佐藤貢悦, 嚴錫仁 (2009) 日中韓同字異義語小辞典 (in Japanese), →ISBN
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[1] 佐藤貢悦, 嚴錫仁 (2009) 日中韓同字異義語小辞典 (in Japanese), →ISBN

[DJR-2] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[1]

[2]