圭 (guī): sundial, (ancient unit of volume) a tiny amount, a smidgen, a speck

圭 (guī) is a Chinese character meaning “sundial.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 土 (structural) and 土 (structural). It ranks #2925 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 圭 a stack of tablets. Its radical form 土 (earth) appears in many related characters such as 土 (tǔ, earth, soil), 地 (dì, earth, ground), 场 (chǎng, field, place).

Spoken pronunciation
Radical: 土 earth6 strokesFrequency #2925土 structural

Definitions

  1. sundial
  2. (ancient unit of volume) a tiny amount
  3. a smidgen
  4. a speck

Etymology & Origin

圭

ideographicA stack of tablets

Decomposition: ⿱土土 (layout: top-bottom)

Components:土structural

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6

Practice writing 圭 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
巴拉圭proper-nounbā lā guīParaguay
圭亚那proper-nounguī yà nàGuyana
乌拉圭proper-nounwū lā guīUruguay
法属圭亚那proper-nounfǎ shǔ guī yà nàFrench Guiana
安圭拉proper-nounān guī lāAnguilla
利隆圭proper-nounlì lóng guīLilongwe, capital of Malawi
奉为圭臬phrasefèng wéi guī nièto take as a guiding principle (idiom)
荜门圭窦bì mén guī dòuwicker door, hole window (idiom)
崔圭夏cuī guī xiàChoe Gyuha (1919-2006), South Korean politician, president 1979-1980
9
Total compounds
11
As first character
33
As last character
56
As middle character

圭 appears in 9 compound words: 11 as the first character, 33 as the last, and 56 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 圭 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

拉lā
0.43712 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

荜门圭窦bì mén guī dòu

wicker door, hole window (idiom); fig. wretched hovel; living in poverty

phrase
奉为圭臬fèngwéiguīniè

to look up to as a standard; to hold up as a model; to take as a guiding principle

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

春天到了,农民开始翻圭播种。

chūn tiān dào le , nóng mín kāi shǐ fān guī bō zhǒng .

Spring has arrived, and farmers have begun plowing and sowing.

InvestingApr 2026

巴拉圭央行维持利率5.5%不变,通胀保持稳定

bā lā guī yāng háng wéi chí lì lǜ 5 . 5 bù biàn , tōng zhàng bǎo chí wěn dìng

Paraguay's central bank keeps interest rates steady at 5.5%, with inflation remaining stable

Investing 香港Apr 2026

巴拉圭央行维持利率于5.5%,通膨情势稳定

bā lā guī yāng háng wéi chí lì lǜ yú 5 . 5 , tōng péng qíng shì wěn dìng

Paraguay's central bank keeps interest rates at 5.5% as inflation remains stable

中国新闻网_梳理天下新闻Apr 2026

第21批援圭亚那中国医疗队赴林区义诊

dì 2 1 pī yuán guī yà nà zhōng guó yī liáo duì fù lín qū yì zhěn

The 21st Chinese Medical Team Aiding Guyana Conducts Free Medical Clinics in Forest Areas

UdnnewsindexMar 2026

李逸洋感谢古屋圭司 痛批中国长臂管辖太荒谬

lǐ yì yáng gǎn xiè gǔ wū guī sī tòng pī zhōng guó cháng bì guǎn xiá tài huāng miù

Li Yiyang thanks Keiji Furuya and strongly criticizes China’s “long-arm jurisdiction” as absurd

EttodayMar 2026

多国政要齐聚玉山论坛 古屋圭司重申:日本绝对不会坐视“台湾有事”

duō guó zhèng yāo qí jù yù shān lùn tán gǔ wū guī sī chóng shēn : rì běn jué duì bù huì zuò shì tái wān yǒu shì

Leaders from Multiple Countries Gather at the Yushan Forum; Keiji Furuya Reiterates: Japan Will Never Stand Idly By If "Something Happens in Taiwan"

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 圭 (guī) mean in Chinese?
圭 (guī) primarily means "sundial." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #2925 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 圭 have?
圭 is written with 6 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 圭?
The radical associated with 圭 is 土 (earth). This radical appears in many characters related to earth.
What are the components of 圭?
圭 is composed of: 土 (structural), 土 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱土土 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 圭?
Common words with 圭 include: 巴拉圭 (bā lā guī, "Paraguay"); 圭亚那 (guī yà nà, "Guyana"); 乌拉圭 (wū lā guī, "Uruguay"); 法属圭亚那 (fǎ shǔ guī yà nà, "French Guiana"); 安圭拉 (ān guī lā, "Anguilla"). There are over 9 compound words containing this character.
Is 圭 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 圭 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 圭 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.