奥 (ào): (bound form) Austria (abbr. for 奧地利|奥地利), (bound form) Olympics (abbr. for 奧林匹克|奥林匹克), obscure
奥 (ào) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) austria (abbr. for 奧地利|奥地利).” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 宀 (structural), 米 (structural) and 大 (structural). It ranks #972 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 奥 a person 大 discovering a house 宀 full of rice 米. Its radical form 大 (big) appears in many related characters such as 大 (dà, big), 天 (tiān, day), 太 (tài, highest).
Definitions
- (bound form) Austria (abbr. for 奧地利|奥地利)
- (bound form) Olympics (abbr. for 奧林匹克|奥林匹克)
- obscure
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA person 大 discovering a house 宀 full of rice 米
Decomposition: ⿱⿵宀米大 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 奥 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 奥斯卡proper-noun | ào sī kǎ | (film industry) Oscar (Academy Award) |
| 新奥尔良 | xīn ào ěr liáng | New Orleans, Louisiana |
| 奥斯汀proper-noun | ào sī tīng | Austin or Austen (name) |
| 奥运会proper-noun | ào yùn huì | Olympic Games |
| 奥地利proper-noun | ào dì lì | Austria |
| 奥林匹克proper-noun | ào lín pǐ kè | Olympic |
| 奥克兰proper-noun | ào kè lán | Auckland (New Zealand city) |
| 奥马哈proper-noun | ào mǎ hā | Omaha |
| 奥运proper-noun | ào yùn | Olympic Games |
| 奥兰多proper-noun | ào lán duō | Orlando |
| 奥布里 | ào bù lǐ | Aubrey (name) |
| 奥斯丁proper-noun | ào sī dīng | Austin or Austen (name) |
| 奥利维亚 | ào lì wéi yà | Olivia (name) |
| 奥黛丽 | ào dài lì | Audrey |
| 奥秘noun | ào mì | secret |
奥 appears in 100 compound words: 78 as the first character, 10 as the last, and 12 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 奥 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (9)
Albany (a city, the state capital of New York, United States); a transliteration of the English surname Albany
Albany (a city, the state capital of New York, United States); a transliteration of the English surname Albany
Showing 8 of 9 idioms containing 奥.
Example Sentences
奥字虽然难写，但意思很有趣。
ào zì suī rán nán xiě , dàn yì sī hěn yǒu qù .
The character "奥" may be difficult to write, but its meaning is quite interesting.
米兰冬奥|有爱人也有惺惺相惜的对手,王心迪与瑞士...
mǐ lán dōng ào yǒu ài rén yě yǒu 惺 惺 xiāng xī de duì shǒu , wáng xīn dí yǔ ruì shì . . .
Milan Winter Olympics|There are lovers and sympathetic opponents, Wang Xindi and Switzerland...
冬奥会|速滑综合:荷兰老将德容四战奥运首夺金
dōng ào huì sù huá zèng gě : hé lán lǎo jiāng dé róng sì zhàn ào yùn shǒu duó jīn
Winter Olympics|Speed skating comprehensive: Dutch veteran De Jong won his first gold medal in four Olympic games
冬奥会|家乡连线:“我儿子是冠军!”——宁忠...
dōng ào huì jiā xiāng lián xiàn : wǒ ér zǐ shì guàn jūn ! — — nìng zhōng . . .
Winter Olympics|Hometown Connection: "My son is a champion!" ——Ning Zhong...
冬奥会|家乡连线:“最强夫妻档”!电影都不敢...
dōng ào huì jiā xiāng lián xiàn : zuì qiáng fū qī dàng ! diàn yǐng dōu bù gǎn . . .
Winter Olympics|Hometown Connection: "The Strongest Husband and Wife"! The movie doesn't dare...
跨区出行需求活跃,冬奥会带火冰雪旅游热
kuà qū chū háng xū qiú huó yuè , dōng ào huì dài huǒ bīng xuě lǚ yóu rè
The demand for cross-regional travel is active, and the Winter Olympics will bring fire to ice and snow tourism
谁能揭开海洋的奥秘？
Shéi néng jiēkāi hǎiyáng de àomì?
Who is able to reveal the mysteries of the sea?
奥林匹斯山? 那不是希腊众神鬼混的地方?
ào lín pǐ sī shān? nà bù shì Xīlà zhòng shén guǐhùn de dìfang?
Olympus? Isn't that where Greek gods hang out or something?
玛丽海特本周在纽奥良。
Mǎlì Hǎitè běn zhōu zài Niǔ'àoliáng.
Mary Hat was in New Orleans this week.
克劳迪奥留着长发，而且抽大麻。
Kè láo Dí'ào liú zhe chángfà, érqiě chōu dàmá.
Claudio had long hair and smoked pot.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 奥 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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