古 (gǔ): ancient, old, paleo-
古 (gǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “ancient.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 十 (structural) and 口 (structural). It ranks #509 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 古 words passing through ten 十 mouths 口. Its radical form 口 (mouth) appears in many related characters such as 口 (kǒu, mouth), 叫 (jiào, to call, to be called), 右 (yòu, (bound form) right).
Definitions
- ancient
- old
- paleo-
Etymology & Origin
ideographicWords passing through ten 十 mouths 口
Decomposition: ⿱十口 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 古 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 古
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 古老adjective | gǔ lǎo | ancient | 5 |
| 古代noun | gǔ dài | ancient times | 5 |
| 古典adjective | gǔ diǎn | classical | 6 |
| 古人noun | gǔ rén | people of ancient times | 6 |
| 古迹noun | gǔ jì | places of historic interest | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 古怪 | gǔ guài | strange |
| 古巴 | gǔ bā | Cuba |
| 古董 | gǔ dǒng | curio |
| 蒙古 | měng gǔ | Mongolia |
| 古板 | gǔ bǎn | outmoded |
| 考古 | kǎo gǔ | archaeology |
| 复古 | fù gǔ | to return to old ways (a Confucian aspiration) |
| 远古 | yuǎn gǔ | antiquity |
| 古物 | gǔ wù | antique |
| 古鲁 | gǔ lǔ | guru (loanword) |
| 古墓 | gǔ mù | old tomb (archaeology) |
| 古柯 | gǔ kē | (botany) coca (source of cocaine) |
| 古城 | gǔ chéng | ancient city |
| 古玩 | gǔ wán | antique |
| 亘古 | gèn gǔ | throughout time |
古 appears in 100 compound words: 66 as the first character, 31 as the last, and 3 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 古 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (36)
to possess a wide knowledge of things ancient and modern; erudite and informed
to possess a wide knowledge of things ancient and modern; erudite and informed
Showing 12 of 36 idioms containing 古.
Example Sentences
孩子们古渴了，纷纷跑到饮水机前接水。
hái zǐ men gǔ kě le , fēn fēn pǎo dào yǐn shuǐ jī qián jiē shuǐ .
The children were parched and rushed to the water cooler to fill their bottles.
...尔本3大“最”!市内必到免费景点 全澳最古老美术馆/南半球最大露天市集/最美图书馆
. . . ěr běn 3 dà zuì ! shì nèi bì dào miǎn fèi jǐng diǎn quán ào zuì gǔ lǎo měi shù guǎn nán bàn qiú zuì dà lù tiān shì jí zuì měi tú shū guǎn
... Erben's 3 "most"! Free attractions in the city The oldest art museum in Australia/the largest open-air market in the southern hemisphere/the most beautiful library
第三十三届国际《古兰经》展览会开幕
dì sān shí sān jiè guó jì gǔ lán jīng zhǎn lǎn huì kāi mù
The 33rd International Quran Exhibition opened
独家/疑不满出餐太慢! 复古咖啡厅男乱泼美式
dú jiā yí bù mǎn chū cān tài màn ! fù gǔ kā fēi tīng nán luàn pō měi shì
Exclusive/Suspected that the food is too slow! Retro café men splash American style
(新春走基层)福建屏南:古桥“万安”横碧水 乡宴“..
( xīn chūn zǒu jī céng ) fú jiàn bǐng nán : gǔ qiáo wàn ān héng bì shuǐ xiāng yàn . .
(New Year at the grassroots level) Pingnan, Fujian: Guqiao "Wan'an" Hengbi Water Township Banquet":
我的计划是参观苏格兰的古堡。
Wǒ de jìhuà shì cānguān Sūgélán de gǔbǎo.
My plan is visiting old castles in Scotland.
我买了一盏古老的灯。
Wǒ mǎi le yī zhǎn gǔlǎo de dēng.
I bought an ancient lamp.
奈良是个非常古老的城市。
Nàiliáng shì ge fēicháng gǔlǎo de chéngshì.
Nara is a very old city.
我在找关于古罗马历史的书。
Wǒ zài zhǎo guānyú gǔ Luómǎ lìshǐ de shū.
I'm looking for books on Roman history.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 古 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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