规 (guī): compass, a rule, regulation, to admonish, to plan, to scheme
规 (guī) is a Chinese character meaning “compass.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 夫 (phonetic) and 见 (semantic). It ranks #321 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 规 observe. Its radical form 见 (see) appears in many related characters such as 见 (jiàn, to see), 观 (guān, to look at), 览 (lǎn, to look at).
Definitions
- compass
- a rule
- regulation
- to admonish
- to plan
- to scheme
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 规 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 规
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 规则noun/adjective | guī zé | rule | 5 |
| 规矩noun/adjective | guī ju | lit. compass and set square | 6 |
| 规定verb/noun | guī dìng | to stipulate | 4 |
| 常规noun/adjective | cháng guī | code of conduct | 6 |
| 规划noun/verb | guī huà | to draw up a plan | 6 |
| 规律noun/adjective | guī lǜ | rule (e.g. of science) | 5 |
| 规模noun | guī mó | scale | 5 |
| 违规verb | wéi guī | to violate the rules | 6 |
| 法规noun | fǎ guī | legislation | 6 |
| 正规adjective | zhèng guī | regular | 6 |
| 规范noun/adjective/verb | guī fàn | norm | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 犯规verb | fàn guī | to break the rules |
| 大规模adjective | dà guī mó | large scale |
| 规章noun | guī zhāng | rule |
| 循规蹈矩phrase | xún guī dǎo jǔ | to follow the compass and go with the set square (idiom) |
| 规格noun | guī gé | standard |
| 不规则adjective | bù guī zé | irregular |
| 校规noun | xiào guī | school rules and regulations |
| 规章制度noun | guī zhāng zhì dù | rules and regulations |
| 规程noun | guī chéng | rules |
| 教规noun | jiào guī | canon |
| 墨守成规phrase | mò shǒu chéng guī | hidebound by convention (idiom) |
| 陈规noun | chén guī | outmoded conventions |
| 规避verb | guī bì | to evade |
| 家规noun | jiā guī | family rules |
| 明文规定phrase | míng wén guī dìng | expressly stipulated (in writing) |
规 appears in 100 compound words: 41 as the first character, 33 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 规 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (14)
compasses, set square and straight line marker (idiom); fig. established standard; norms; criteria
compasses, set square, spirit level and plumbline (idiom); fig. established standard; norms; criteria
to be defined clearly in writing; to be written out in black and white
to rigidly adhere to old rules or traditions without willingness to change
to strictly adhere to the policies of the predecessor, to follow precedent
compasses, set square and straight line marker (idiom); fig. established standard; norms; criteria
compasses, set square, spirit level and plumbline (idiom); fig. established standard; norms; criteria
to rigidly adhere to old rules or traditions without willingness to change
Showing 12 of 14 idioms containing 规.
Example Sentences
我们要遵守交通规则，确保行车安全。
Wǒmen yào zūnshǒu jiāotōng guīzé, quèbǎo xíngchē ānquán.
We must follow traffic rules to ensure driving safety.
凌晨2:34 新北坪林区规模4.0地震 最大震度汐止2级
líng chén 2 : 3 4 xīn běi píng lín qū guī mó 4 . 0 dì zhèn zuì dà zhèn dù 汐 zhǐ 2 jí
At 2:34 a.m., a magnitude 4.0 earthquake occurred in Pinglin District, New Taipei, with a maximum seismic intensity of Xizhi 2
摩通:保荐人新规无碍优质企上市
mó tōng : bǎo jiàn rén xīn guī wú ài yōu zhì qǐ shàng shì
Morgan Stanley: The new sponsor regulations do not hinder the listing of high-quality enterprises
台股金蛇年这7档规模翻倍增 吸金力道猛
tái gǔ jīn shé nián zhè 7 dàng guī mó fān bèi zēng xī jīn lì dào měng
The scale of these 7 gears in the Year of the Golden Snake of Taiwan stocks has doubled, and the gold absorption is fierce
扎克伯格与黄仁勋签署超大规模协议,Meta将部署数..
zhā kè bà gé yú huáng rén xūn qiān shǔ chāo dà guī mó xié yì , jiāng bù shǔ shǔ . .
Zuckerberg and Jen-Hsun Huang sign mega deal, Meta to deploy number...
学习规划建议每日问答丨构建智能化军事体系
xué xí guī huá jiàn yì měi rì wèn dā 丨 gòu jiàn zhì néng huā jūn shì tī xì
Study Planning Advice Daily Q&A丨Building an Intelligent Military System
你对足球规则熟悉吗？
Nǐ duì zúqiú guīzé shúxī ma?
Are you familiar with the rules of soccer?
请你为我解释规则好吗?
Qǐng nǐ wèi wǒ jiěshì guīzé hǎo ma?
Would you please explain the rules to me?
我们必须遵守规则。
Wǒmen bìxū zūnshǒu guīzé.
We must obey the rules.
你行为应该规矩些。
Nǐ xíngwéi yīnggāi guīju xiē.
You should try to behave better.
Character Family
见 Radical Family — Characters sharing the see radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 规 (guī) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 规 and 肤?
How many strokes does 规 have?
What is the radical of 规?
What are the components of 规?
What are common words containing 规?
What characters sound the same as 规 (guī)?
Is 规 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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