器 (qì): device, tool, utensil

器 (qì) is a Chinese character meaning “device.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 口 (structural), 口 (structural), 犬 (structural), 口 (structural) and 口 (structural). It ranks #441 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 器 four cooking vessels 口 guarded by a dog 犬. Its radical form 口 (mouth) appears in many related characters such as 口 (kǒu, mouth), 叫 (jiào, to call, to be called), 右 (yòu, (bound form) right).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. device
  2. tool
  3. utensil

Etymology & Origin

器

ideographicFour cooking vessels 口 guarded by a dog 犬

Decomposition: ⿳⿰口口犬⿰口口 (layout: top-middle-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Practice writing 器 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 器

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
武器nounwǔ qìweapon6
机器nounjī qìmachine5
机器人nounjī qì rénrobot5
仪器nounyí qìinstrument6
乐器nounyuè qìmusical instrument6
电器noundiàn qì(electrical) appliance5
瓷器nouncí qìchinaware6
热水器nounrè shuǐ qìwater heater6
浏览器nounliú lǎn qìbrowser (software)6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
凶器nounxiōng qìlethal weapon
器官nounqì guān(physiology) organ
监视器nounjiān shì qìsecurity camera
服务器nounfú wù qìserver (computer)
容器nounróng qìreceptacle
窃听器nounqiè tīng qìtapping device
探测器nountàn cè qìdetector
遥控器nounyáo kòng qìa remote control
核武器nounhé wǔ qìnuclear weapon
发射器fā shè qìradio transmitter
传感器nounchuán gǎn qìsensor
吸尘器nounxī chén qìvacuum cleaner
注射器nounzhù shè qìsyringe
器材nounqì cáiequipment
推进器tuī jìn qìpropeller
102
Total compounds
11
As first character
88
As last character
1
As middle character

器 appears in 102 compound words: 11 as the first character, 88 as the last, and 1 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 器 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

武wǔ
0.605149,700 co-occurrences
伺sì
0.58510,235 co-occurrences
浏liú
0.5446,280 co-occurrences
滤lǜ
0.5314,282 co-occurrences
瓷cí
0.5116,028 co-occurrences
仪yí
0.48710,228 co-occurrences
奏zòu
0.48417,860 co-occurrences
陶táo
0.4679,532 co-occurrences
览lǎn
0.4646,364 co-occurrences
探tàn
0.46014,302 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (14)

拨弦乐器bō xián yuè qìHSK 7+

plucked string or stringed instrument; plucked instrument

phrase
藏器待时cáng qì dài shíHSK 5+

to conceal one's abilities and wait (idiom); to lie low and await the opportune moment

phrase
常规武器chángguī wǔqìHSK 5+

conventional weapon

noun
感觉器官gǎn jué qì guānHSK 6+

sense organs; the five senses

phrase
光学仪器guāng xué yí qìHSK 6+

optical instrument

phrase
化学武器huà xué wǔ qìHSK 5+

chemical weapon

phrase
机器翻译jīqì fānyìHSK 5+

machine translation

noun
键盘乐器jiànpán yuèqìHSK 5+

keyboard instrument

noun
气鸣乐器qì míng yuè qìHSK 7+

aerophone (music)

phrase
器宇轩昂qì yǔ xuān áng

variant of 氣宇軒昂|气宇轩昂

phrase
生殖器官shēngzhí qìguānHSK 6+

reproductive organ

noun
铜管乐器tóngguǎn yuèqìHSK 6+

brass instrument

noun

Showing 12 of 14 idioms containing 器.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个仪器很精密,使用时要特别小心。

Zhè gè yíqì hěn jīngmì, shǐyòng shí yào tèbié xiǎoxīn.

This instrument is very precise and requires special care when using it.

百度新闻Feb 2026

春晚这扇“窗”,照见中国机器人产业“跑”出倍速

chūn wǎn zhè shān chuāng , zhào jiàn zhōng guó jī qì rén chǎn yè pǎo chū bèi sù

Spring Festival Gala this "window", see China's robotics industry "run" out of times speed

百度新闻Feb 2026

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

百度新闻Feb 2026

...曼亮相北京卫视春晚,化身“新春大厨”让机器人走..

. . . 曼 liàng xiāng běi jīng wèi shì chūn wǎn , huā shēn xīn chūn dà chú ràng jī qì rén zǒu . .

... Mann appeared in the Beijing Satellite TV Spring Festival Gala, in the guise of "Chinese New Year Chef" to let the robots go ...

百度新闻Feb 2026

春晚机器人“摔倒”,网友:是故意的还是不小心的?...

chūn wǎn jī qì rén shuāi dǎo , wǎng yǒu shì gù yì de hái shì bù xiǎo xīn de ? . . .

Spring Festival Gala robot "fell down", netizens: is it on purpose or accidentally?...

百度新闻Feb 2026

与沈腾马丽一起“搭戏”的机器人,还藏着这样的技术突..

yú 沈 téng mǎ lí yī qǐ dā xì de jī qì rén , hái zàng zhe zhè yàng de jì shù tū . .

With Shen Teng Ma Li with the "play" robot, but also hides such a technologi...

Tatoeba

你用哪一个浏览器?

Nǐ yòng nǎyīge liúlǎnqì?

Which browser do you use?

Tatoeba

怎么用路由器限制网速?

Zěnme yòng lùyóuqì xiànzhì wǎng sù?

How can a router be used to limit network speed?

Tatoeba

除了钢琴以外,还会玩什么乐器吗?

Chúle gāngqín yǐwài, hái huì wán shénme yuèqì ma?

Do you play any instrument other than the piano?

Tatoeba

电源转接器的包装盒在哪里?

Diànyuán zhuǎnjiē qì de bāozhuāng hé zài nǎlǐ?

Where's the box the power supply came in?

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced qì

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 器 (qì) mean in Chinese?
器 (qì) primarily means "device." It is classified as HSK Level 5, making it an advanced character. It ranks #441 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 器 have?
器 is written with 16 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 器?
The radical associated with 器 is 口 (mouth). This radical appears in many characters related to mouth.
What are the components of 器?
器 is composed of: 口 (structural), 口 (structural), 犬 (structural), 口 (structural), 口 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿳⿰口口犬⿰口口 with a top-middle-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 器?
Common words with 器 include: 武器 (wǔ qì, "weapon"); 机器 (jī qì, "machine"); 机器人 (jī qì rén, "robot"); 凶器 (xiōng qì, "lethal weapon"); 器官 (qì guān, "(physiology) organ"). There are over 102 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 器 (qì)?
Several characters share the pronunciation qì: 起 (to rise), 其 (his), 气 (gas), 期 (period, expect), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 器 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 器 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 器 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.