礁 (jiāo): reef, shoal rock
礁 (jiāo) is a Chinese character meaning “reef.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 石 (semantic) and 焦 (phonetic). It ranks #2721 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 礁 rock. Its radical form 石 (stone) appears in many related characters such as 确 (què, certain, true), 碗 (wǎn, bowl), 碰 (pèng, to touch, to bump).
Definitions
- reef
- shoal rock
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 礁 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 暗礁noun | àn jiāo | submerged reef (rock) |
| 礁石noun | jiāo shí | reef |
| 珊瑚礁noun | shān hú jiāo | coral reef |
| 触礁verb | chù jiāo | (of a ship) to strike a reef |
| 比基尼环礁 | bǐ jī ní huán jiāo | Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, former US nuclear test site in the Pacific |
| 斯卡伯勒礁 | sī kǎ bó lè jiāo | Scarborough Shoal (Philippines' name for Huangyan Island) |
| 礁湖星云 | jiāo hú xīng yún | Lagoon Nebula, M8 |
| 大堡礁proper-noun | dà bǎo jiāo | Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia |
| 环礁noun | huán jiāo | atoll |
| 礁岛 | jiāo dǎo | reef island |
| 牛轭礁proper-noun | niú è jiāo | Niu'e Reef, disputed territory in the South China Sea, claimed by China, Vietnam and the Philippines, aka Whitsun Ree... |
| 礁湖noun | jiāo hú | lagoon |
| 堡礁noun | bǎo jiāo | barrier reef |
| 浅礁 | qiǎn jiāo | shallow reef |
礁 appears in 14 compound words: 29 as the first character, 71 as the last, and 0 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 礁 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
礁字虽然难写，但意思很有趣。
jiāo zì suī rán nán xiě , dàn yì sī hěn yǒu qù .
Though the character "礁" is difficult to write, its meaning is quite interesting.
...征召韩莹参选宜兰市长 民进党劝进吴亚蓁战礁溪乡长
. . . zhēng zhào hán yíng cān xuǎn yí lán shì cháng mín jìn dǎng quàn jìn wú yà 蓁 zhàn jiāo xī xiāng cháng
...The Democratic Progressive Party has nominated Han Ying to run for mayor of Yilan and is encouraging Wu Ya-jen to run for mayor of Jiaoxi Township
解放军指菲飞机闯入美济礁附近空域 已警告驱离
jiě fàng jūn zhǐ 菲 fēi jī chuǎng rù měi jì jiāo fù jìn kōng yù yǐ jǐng gào qū lí
The PLA claims that a Philippine aircraft entered the airspace near Mischief Reef and has been warned and driven away
...208型机未经允许 非法闯入中国南沙美济礁附近空域
. . . 2 0 8 xíng jī wèi jīng yǔn xǔ fēi fǎ chuǎng rù zhōng guó nán shā měi jì jiāo fù jìn kōng yù
...A Type 208 aircraft illegally entered the airspace near Meiji Reef in China's Nansha Islands without authorization
三婚又触礁?洪荣宏驳婚变:我们一切都好
sān hūn yòu chù jiāo ? hóng róng hóng bó hūn biàn : wǒ men yī qiē dōu hǎo
Marriage No. 3 Hit a Snag? Hong Ronghong Denies Rumors of a Breakup: "We're Doing Just Fine"
泰国斯米兰海底珊瑚礁缠“幽灵渔网” 潜水员清除逾2吨废弃渔具
tài guó sī mǐ lán hǎi de 珊 瑚 jiāo chán yōu líng yú wǎng qián shuǐ yuán qīng chú yú 2 dūn fèi qì yú jù
Divers in the submarine coral reef of Similan, Thailand, wrapped in "ghost fishing nets" Divers removed more than 2 tons of discarded fishing gear
珊瑚礁是这个地区的主要景点。
Shānhújiāo shì zhège dìqū de zhǔyào jǐngdiǎn.
The coral reef is the region's prime attraction.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 礁 (jiāo) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 礁 and 瞧?
How many strokes does 礁 have?
What is the radical of 礁?
What are the components of 礁?
What are common words containing 礁?
What characters sound the same as 礁 (jiāo)?
Is 礁 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 礁 with real-time feedback
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