居 (jū): to reside, to be (in a certain position), to store up, to be at a standstill, residence, house
居 (jū) is a Chinese character meaning “to reside.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 户 (semantic) and 古 (phonetic). It ranks #678 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 居 door. Its radical form 尸 (corpse) appears in many related characters such as 层 (céng, to pile on top of one another), 尽 (jǐn, to the greatest extent), 屋 (wū, (bound form) house).
Definitions
- to reside
- to be (in a certain position)
- to store up
- to be at a standstill
- residence
- house
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 居 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 居
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 居然adverb | jū rán | unexpectedly | 5 |
| 邻居noun | lín jū | neighbor | 3 |
| 居民noun | jū mín | resident | 5 |
| 居住verb | jū zhù | to reside | 5 |
| 家居noun | jiā jū | home | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 同居verb | tóng jū | to live together |
| 分居verb | fēn jū | to separate (married couple) |
| 起居室noun | qǐ jū shì | living room |
| 定居verb | dìng jū | to settle (in some city, country etc) |
| 穴居verb | xué jū | to live in a cave |
| 隐居verb | yǐn jū | to live in seclusion |
| 独居verb | dú jū | to live alone |
| 移居verb | yí jū | to migrate |
| 居家verb | jū jiā | to live at home |
| 居留verb | jū liú | to reside |
| 居民区noun | jū mín qū | residential area |
| 居住地noun | jū zhù dì | current address |
| 聚居verb | jù jū | to inhabit a region (esp. ethnic group) |
| 聚居地noun | jù jū dì | inhabited land |
| 居于 | jū yú | to occupy (a position) |
居 appears in 101 compound words: 37 as the first character, 54 as the last, and 9 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 居 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (6)
to hoard and corner; to hoard and profiteer; to corner the market; to engross the market
Example Sentences
他在这个城市居住了十年，对这里已经很熟悉了。
Tā zài zhè gè chéngshì jūzhù le shí nián, duì zhèlǐ yǐjīng hěn shúxī le.
He has lived in this city for ten years and is already very familiar with it.
2026 年全球最重要的居留权与公民身份计划
2 0 2 6 nián quán qiú zuì chóng yāo de jū liú quán yǔ gōng mín shēn fèn jì huá
The world's most important residency and citizenship programs in 2026
居家消毒有什么误区?这些常见错误可能伤身又...
jū jiā xiāo dú yǒu shén má wù qū ? zhè xiē cháng jiàn cuò wù kě néng shāng shēn yòu . . .
What are the misunderstandings of home disinfection? These common mistakes can hurt your body and...
忻州市房地产市场多项指标居全省首位
忻 zhōu shì fáng dì chǎn shì chǎng duō xiàng zhǐ biāo jū quán shěng shǒu wèi
Xinzhou real estate market tops the province in a number of indicators
万全右卫城十二时辰:赚时辰印,当“荣誉居民”
mò quán yòu wèi chéng shí èr shí chén zhuàn shí chén yìn , dāng róng yù jū mín
Twelve Hours of the Right Guard City: Earn the Hour Seal, Become an "Honorary Resident"
史密斯夫妇现在分居了。
Shǐmìsī fūfù xiànzài fēnjū le.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith live apart from each other now.
我们曾是隔壁邻居。
Wǒmen céng shì gébì línjū.
We used to be neighbours.
葡萄牙和西班牙是邻居。
Pútáoyá hé Xībānyá shì línjū.
Portugal and Spain are neighbors.
邻居看见信箱不是空的。
Línjū kànjiàn xìnxiāng bù shì kōng de.
The neighbours see that the mailbox hasn't been emptied.
我家和邻居家以院子之间的篱笆为分界线。
Wǒ jiā hé línjū jiā yǐ yuànzi zhījiān de líba wèi fēnjièxiàn.
There is a fence marking the boundary between our yard and the neighbor's.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 居 (jū) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 居 and 下?
How many strokes does 居 have?
What is the radical of 居?
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What are common words containing 居?
What characters sound the same as 居 (jū)?
Is 居 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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