冠 (guàn): to be first, to put on a hat, hat, crown, crest
冠 (guàn) is a Chinese character meaning “to be first.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 冖 (structural), 元 (structural) and 寸 (structural). It ranks #1697 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 冠 a man 元 puts on a cap 冖 with his hand 寸. Its radical form 冖 (cover) appears in many related characters such as 写 (xiě, to write), 农 (nóng, (bound form) agriculture), 军 (jūn, (bound form) army).
Definitions
- to be first
- to put on a hat
- hat
- crown
- crest
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA man 元 puts on a cap 冖 with his hand 寸
Decomposition: ⿱冖⿺元寸 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 冠 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 冠
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 皇冠noun | huáng guān | crown (headgear) |
| 王冠noun | wáng guān | crown |
| 夺冠verb | duó guàn | to seize the crown |
| 桂冠noun | guì guān | laurel (as a symbol of victory or merit) |
| 冠军赛noun | guàn jūn sài | championship |
| 衣冠楚楚phrase | yī guān chǔ chǔ | immaculately dressed |
| 冠状动脉noun | guān zhuàng dòng mài | coronary artery |
| 衣冠noun | yī guān | hat and clothes |
| 冠冕堂皇phrase | guān miǎn táng huáng | high-sounding |
| 冠心病noun | guān xīn bìng | coronary heart disease |
| 冠名verb | guàn míng | to name (a sports team, a competition etc) |
| 冠冕noun | guān miǎn | royal crown |
| 花冠noun | huā guān | corolla |
| 怒发冲冠phrase | nù fà chōng guān | lit. hair stands up in anger and tips off one's hat (idiom) |
| 树冠noun | shù guān | treetop |
冠 appears in 100 compound words: 22 as the first character, 30 as the last, and 48 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 冠 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (11)
dignified; upright; solemn; to seem honorable and just on the surface, but is not the case in reality
beast in human attire; gentleman in appearance but a beast in conduct; immoral or despicable person
to confuse a person with someone else; to confuse one thing with another
to confuse a person with someone else; to confuse one thing with another
Example Sentences
冠字在日常生活中使用频率中等。
guàn zì zài rì cháng shēng huó zhōng shǐ yòng pín lǜ zhōng děng .
The prefix "冠" is used moderately frequently in daily life.
...”美食争霸赛总决赛收官 豆腐发源地淮南夺冠
. . . měi shí zhēng bà sài zǒng jué sài shōu guān dòu fǔ fā yuán dì huái nán duó guàn
The finals of the food competition ended with Huainan, the birthplace of tofu, winning the championship
谷爱凌李方慧包揽冠亚军,中国体育代表团创历史
gǔ ài líng lǐ fāng huì bāo lǎn guàn yà jūn , zhōng guó tǐ yù dài biǎo tuán chuàng lì shǐ
Gu Ailing and Li Fanghui won the championship and runner-up, and the Chinese sports delegation made history
谷爱凌U型场地技巧决赛夺金 中国队包揽冠亚军
gǔ ài líng U xíng chǎng dì jì qiǎo jué sài duó jīn zhōng guó duì bāo lǎn guàn yà jūn
Gu Ailing won the gold medal in the U-shaped court skills final, and the Chinese team won the championship and runner-up
中国队包揽米兰冬奥会自由式滑雪女子U池冠亚军
zhōng guó duì bāo lǎn mǐ lán dōng ào huì zì yóu shì huá xuě nǚ zǐ U chí guàn yà jūn
The Chinese team won the championship and runner-up in the women's U pool in freestyle skiing at the Milan Winter Olympics
冬奥会|家乡连线:“我儿子是冠军!”——宁忠岩家乡..
dōng ào huì jiā xiāng lián xiàn : wǒ ér zǐ shì guàn jūn ! — — nìng zhōng yán jiā xiāng . .
Winter Olympics|Hometown Connection: "My son is a champion!" ——Ning Zhongyan's hometown:
你有新冠病毒的症状吗？
Nǐ yǒu xīnguānbìngdú de zhèngzhuàng ma?
Do you have coronavirus symptoms?
如果没有冠状病毒的话，我就去环游世界了！
Rúguǒ méiyǒu guānzhuàngbìngdú dehuà, wǒ jiù qù huányóu shìjiè le!
If there were no Covid, I would travel around the world!
他赢了冠军就自吹自擂了起来。
Tā yíng le guànjūn jiù zìchuīzìléi le qǐlai.
He boasted of having won the first prize.
他在国际象棋比赛中取得了冠军。
Tā zài guójìxiàngqí bǐsài zhōng qǔdé le guànjūn.
He carried off the first prize at the chess tournament.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 冠 (guàn) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 冠 have?
What is the radical of 冠?
What are the components of 冠?
What are common words containing 冠?
What characters sound the same as 冠 (guàn)?
Is 冠 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 冠 with real-time feedback
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