符 (fú): mark, sign, talisman
符 (fú) is a Chinese character meaning “mark.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of ⺮ (semantic) and 付 (phonetic). It ranks #1200 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 符 bamboo. Its radical form 竹 (bamboo) appears in many related characters such as 笑 (xiào, to laugh), 第 (dì, (prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六 "sixth")), 等 (děng, to wait for).
Definitions
- mark
- sign
- talisman
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 符 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 符
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 相符verb | xiāng fú | to match |
| 护身符noun | hù shēn fú | amulet |
| 符咒noun | fú zhòu | charm |
| 音符noun | yīn fú | (music) note |
| 字符noun | zì fú | character (computing) |
| 标点符号noun | biāo diǎn fú hào | punctuation |
| 符号学 | fú hào xué | semiotics |
| 符文 | fú wén | rune |
| 休止符noun | xiū zhǐ fú | rest (music) |
| 鬼画符noun | guǐ huà fú | undecipherable handwriting |
| 名不符实phrase | míng bù fú shí | the name does not correspond to reality (idiom) |
| 字符串noun | zì fú chuàn | string (computing) |
| 国语注音符号第一式 | guó yǔ zhù yīn fú hào dì yī shì | Mandarin Phonetic Symbols 1 (official name of the phonetic system of writing Chinese used in Taiwan) |
| 言行不符 | yán xíng bù fú | (idiom) to say one thing and do another |
| 光学字符识别noun | guāng xué zì fú shí bié | optical character recognition (OCR) |
符 appears in 73 compound words: 21 as the first character, 53 as the last, and 26 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 符 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (8)
synonym of 名不副實 /名不副实 (míngbùfùshí, “the name falls short of the reality; to be unworthy of the name”)
Showing 6 of 8 idioms containing 符.
Example Sentences
这个符字的意思与它的部首有关。
zhè gě fú zì de yì sī yú tā de bù shǒu yǒu guān .
The meaning of this character "符" is related to its radical.
霸凌李贞秀 不符228族群融合精神
bà líng lǐ zhēn xiù bù fú 2 2 8 zú qún róng gě jīng shén
Bullying Li Zhenxiu is not in line with the spirit of 228 ethnic integration
...A Biosciences股价上涨,重新符合纳斯达克合规要求
. . . A B i o s c i e n c e s gǔ jià shàng zhǎng , chóng xīn fú gě nà sī dá kè gě guī yāo qiú
... A Biosciences shares rose to re-meet Nasdaq compliance requirements
...A Biosciences股价上涨,重新符合Nasdaq合规要求
. . . A B i o s c i e n c e s gǔ jià shàng zhǎng , chóng xīn fú gě N a s d a q gě guī yāo qiú
... A Biosciences shares rose to regain compliance with Nasdaq compliance requirements
...irsa业绩超越指引,营收成长9%,发布符合预期的2026年展望
. . . i r s a yè jì chāo yuè zhǐ yǐn , yíng shōu chéng cháng 9 , fā bù fú gě yù qī de 2 0 2 6 nián zhǎn wàng
... IRSA exceeded guidance, with revenue growth of 9%, and released a 2026 outlook in line with expectations
新西兰联储将利率维持在2.25%不变,符合市场预期
xīn xī lán lián chǔ jiāng lì lǜ wéi chí zài 2 . 2 5 bù biàn , fú gě shì chǎng yù qī
The RBNZ kept interest rates unchanged at 2.25%, in line with market expectations
汤姆所言不符时局。
Tāngmǔ suǒ yán bù fú shíjú.
What Tom said doesn't apply in this situation.
符拉迪沃斯托克是俄罗斯的一个城市。
Fúlādíwòsītuōkè shì éluósī de yī gè chéngshì.
Vladivostok is a city in Russia.
川普的行为符合俄罗斯的利益。
Chuānpǔ de xíngwéi fúhé éluósī de lìyì.
Trump is acting in Russia's interests.
这个符号代表答案正确。
Zhège fúhào dàibiǎo dá'àn zhèngquè.
The sign means that the answer is correct.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the ⺮ (bamboo) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 符 (fú) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 符 have?
What is the radical of 符?
What are the components of 符?
What are common words containing 符?
What characters sound the same as 符 (fú)?
Is 符 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 符 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.