龟 (guī): tortoise, turtle, (coll.) cuckold, used in 龜茲|龟兹
龟 (guī) is a Chinese character meaning “tortoise.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of ⺈ (structural) and 电 (structural). It ranks #2318 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically pictographic, 龟 a turtle; compare 龜. Its radical form 龟 (turtle) appears in many related characters.
Definitions
- tortoise
- turtle
- (coll.) cuckold
- used in 龜茲|龟兹
Etymology & Origin
pictographicA turtle; compare 龜
Decomposition: ⿱⺈电 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 龟 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 龟
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 海龟 | hǎi guī | turtle |
| 龟头 | guī tóu | head of a turtle |
| 金龟 | jīn guī | tortoise |
| 金龟子 | jīn guī zǐ | scarab |
| 龟裂 | jūn liè | to crack |
| 龟缩 | guī suō | to withdraw |
| 老鼠拉龟，无从下手 | lǎo shǔ lā guī , wú cóng xià shǒu | like mice trying to pull a turtle, nowhere to get a hand grip (idiom) |
| 龟儿子 | guī ér zi | (coll.) bastard |
| 忍者神龟 | rěn zhě shén guī | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, US comic book series, first appeared in 1984, also films, video games etc |
| 金龟车 | jīn guī chē | (Tw) Volkswagen Beetle |
| 忍者龟 | rěn zhě guī | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Tw) |
| 龟笑鳖无尾 | guī xiào biē wú wěi | lit. a tortoise laughing at a soft-shelled turtle for having no tail (idiom) |
| 龟孙子 | guī sūn zi | (coll.) son of a bitch |
| 龟公 | guī gōng | pimp |
| 册府元龟 | cè fǔ yuán guī | Prime tortoise of the record bureau, Song dynasty historical encyclopedia of political essays, autobiography, memoria... |
龟 appears in 43 compound words: 53 as the first character, 33 as the last, and 14 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 龟 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Showing 1 of 2 idioms containing 龟.
Example Sentences
写好龟字需要掌握正确的笔画顺序。
xiě hǎo guī zì xū yāo zhǎng wò zhēng què de bǐ huà shùn xù .
To write the character "turtle" correctly, you need to master the proper stroke order.
高雄龙池宫庙埕“全是钱” 价值800万百龟供乞龟祈福
gāo xióng lóng chí gōng miào 埕 quán shì qián jià zhí 8 0 0 wàn bǎi guī gōng qǐ guī qí fú
Kaohsiung Longchi Palace Temple is "all money" worth 8 million turtles for begging turtles to pray for blessings
彩券、刮刮乐杠龟可以换200元?还能领一串卫生纸
cǎi quàn , guā guā lè gàng guī kě yǐ huàn 2 0 0 yuán ? hái néng lǐng yī chuàn wèi shēng zhǐ
Lottery tickets and scratch cards can be exchanged for 200 yuan? You can also get a string of toilet paper
杠龟彩券、刮刮乐不要丢!杰升通信回收领200...
gàng guī cǎi quàn , guā guā lè bù yāo diū ! jié shēng tōng xìn huí shōu lǐng 2 0 0 . . .
Don't lose the lottery and scratch tickets! Jiesheng Communications recycles 200...
男生小便后甩一甩会不会伤到龟头?包皮过长者更需小心吗
nán shēng xiǎo biàn hòu shuǎi yī shuǎi huì bù huì shāng dào guī tóu ? bāo pí guò cháng zhě gēng xū xiǎo xīn ma
Will a boy hurt the glans after urinating? Do you need to be more careful if the foreskin is too long?
漫步林间逛市集听好歌 六龟“足留龟乡”成果展2/27登场
màn bù lín jiān guàng shì jí tīng hǎo gē liù guī zú liú guī xiāng chéng guǒ zhǎn 2 2 7 dēng chǎng
Walking in the forest, visiting the market, listening to good songs, the six turtles "Staying in the Turtle Township" achievement exhibition debuted on 2/27
野兔被乌龟抛了在后头。
Yětù bèi wūguī pāo le zàihòu tóu.
The hare was overtaken by the tortoise.
给我买只乌龟吧，妈妈，求你给我买只乌龟吧！
Gěi wǒ mǎi zhǐ wūguī ba, māma, qiú nǐ gěi wǒ mǎi zhǐ wūguī ba!
Buy me a turtle, Mom, please buy me a turtle!
这块龟腹甲的甲桥上有三个字的刻辞。
Zhè kuài guī fù jiǎ de jiǎ qiáo shàng yǒu sān gè zì de kè cí.
There are three words engraved on the bridge of the plastron of this turtle.
雅尼看到儿子在玩一只金龟子。
Yǎ ní kàn dào érzi zài wán yī zhī jīnguīzǐ.
Yanni saw his son playing with a June beetle.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 龟 (guī) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 龟 have?
What is the radical of 龟?
What are the components of 龟?
What are common words containing 龟?
What characters sound the same as 龟 (guī)?
Is 龟 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 龟 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.