科 (kē): branch of study, administrative section, division
科 (kē) is a Chinese character meaning “branch of study.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 禾 (structural) and 斗 (structural). It ranks #277 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 科 a hand measuring 斗 grain 禾. Its radical form 禾 (grain) appears in many related characters such as 秋 (qiū, autumn), 租 (zū, to hire), 称 (chēng, to weigh).
Definitions
- branch of study
- administrative section
- division
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA hand measuring 斗 grain 禾
Decomposition: ⿰禾斗 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 科 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 科
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 科学noun/adjective | kē xué | science | 4 |
| 外科noun | wài kē | surgery (branch of medicine) | 6 |
| 科技noun | kē jì | science and technology | 4 |
| 科幻noun | kē huàn | science fiction | 6 |
| 儿科noun | ér kē | pediatrics | 6 |
| 科研verb | kē yán | (scientific) research | 5 |
| 内科noun | nèi kē | internal medicine | 6 |
| 学科noun | xué kē | subject | 5 |
| 科目noun | kē mù | academic subject | 6 |
| 专科noun | zhuān kē | specialized subject | 6 |
| 理科noun | lǐ kē | the sciences (as opposed to the humanities 文科) | 6 |
| 科普verb | kē pǔ | popularization of science (abbr. for 科學普及|科学普及) | 6 |
| 本科noun | běn kē | undergraduate course | 4 |
| 文科noun | wén kē | liberal arts | 6 |
| 高科技noun | gāo kē jì | high tech | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 科学家 | kē xué jiā | scientist |
| 前科noun | qián kē | criminal record |
| 莫斯科proper-noun | mò sī kē | Moscow, capital of Russia |
| 迪斯科noun | dí sī kē | (loanword) disco |
| 科尔 | kē ěr | Kohl (name) |
| 科罗拉多 | kē luó lā duō | Colorado |
| 牙科noun | yá kē | dentistry |
| 科林斯 | kē lín sī | Corinth, a city-state of ancient Greece |
| 科克proper-noun | kē kè | Cork, city in Ireland |
| 妇科noun | fù kē | gynecology |
| 预科noun | yù kē | preparatory course (in college) |
| 小儿科 | xiǎo ér kē | pediatrics |
| 神经科 | shén jīng kē | neurology department |
| 科林 | kē lín | Colin (name) |
| 教科书 | jiào kē shū | textbook |
科 appears in 104 compound words: 38 as the first character, 57 as the last, and 6 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 科 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (19)
a law, discipline, norm or regulation that is considered absolute and not allowed to be disputed or challenged
Showing 12 of 19 idioms containing 科.
Example Sentences
科学技术的发展给我们的生活带来了很多便利。
Kēxué jìshù de fāzhǎn gěi wǒmen de shēnghuó dài lái le hěn duō biànlì.
The development of science and technology has brought much convenience to our lives.
越疆机器人登上央视春晚,硬核科技点亮高端智造之光
yuè jiāng jī qì rén dēng shǎng yāng shì chūn wǎn , yìng hé kē jì diǎn liàng gāo duān zhì zào zhī guāng
Yuejiang Robot on CCTV Spring Festival Gala, Hardcore Technology Lights Up High-end Intelligent Manufacturing
俄罗斯莫斯科地铁举行中国春节主题列车发车仪式
é luó sī mò sī kē dì tiě jǔ háng zhōng guó chūn jié zhǔ tí liè chē fā chē yí shì
Chinese New Year-themed train launch ceremony held in Russia's Moscow Metro
科学内调成美肤新刚需,肌原光以“产学研”硬...
kē xué nèi diào chéng měi fū xīn gāng xū , jī yuán guāng yǐ chǎn xué yán yìng . . .
Scientific internal conditioning into the skin beauty of the new just demand, the original light to "production, research" hard...
青岛恒星科技学院:产教融合协同出海,绘就全球化新图...
qīng dǎo héng xīng kē jì xué yuàn chǎn jiào róng gě xié tóng chū hǎi , huì jiù quán qiú huā xīn tú . . .
Qingdao Hengxing Science and Technology College: Industry-Education Integration and Collaboration to Go to Sea, Drawing a New Map of Globalization...
抖音集团李亮:炒作“字节是恒科的最大空头”很荒唐也..
dǒu yīn jí tuán lǐ liàng chǎo zuò zì jié shì héng kē de zuì dà kōng tóu hěn huāng táng yě . .
Jitterbug Group's Li Liang: The speculation that "Byte is the biggest short of Henco" is absurd and...
这种科技的优势是什么？
Zhèzhǒng kējì de yōushì shì shénme?
What is the advantage of this technology?
有枪 ，谁还需要科学？
Yǒu qiāng, shéi hái xūyào kēxué?
Who needs science when you've got guns?
你在学校里读哪些科目?
Nǐ zài xuéxiào lǐ dú nǎxiē kēmù?
What subjects are you taking at school?
你最喜欢哪一个科目?
Nǐ zuì xǐhuan nǎyīge kēmù?
What subject do you like best?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 科 (kē) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 科 have?
What is the radical of 科?
What are the components of 科?
What are common words containing 科?
What characters sound the same as 科 (kē)?
Is 科 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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