钦 (qīn): to respect, to admire, to venerate

钦 (qīn) is a Chinese character meaning “to respect.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 钅 (semantic) and 欠 (phonetic). It ranks #2101 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 钦 gold. Its radical form 钅 (metal) appears in many related characters such as 钱 (qián, money), 错 (cuò, wrong, mistake), 钟 (zhōng, clock, bell).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to respect
  2. to admire
  3. to venerate

Etymology & Origin

钦

pictophoneticgold

Decomposition: ⿰钅欠 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
钦佩verbqīn pèito admire
叶利钦proper-nounyè lì qīnYeltsin (name)
尤尔钦科yóu ěr qīn kēYurchenko (name)
钦差nounqīn chāiimperial envoy
钦奈proper-nounqīn nàiChennai, capital of southeast Indian state Tamil Nadu 泰米爾納德邦|泰米尔纳德邦
何应钦hé yìng qīnHe Yingqin (1890-1987), senior Guomindang general
钦南区qīn nán qūQinnan, a district of Qinzhou City 欽州市|钦州市, Guangxi
阿克赛钦proper-nounā kè sài qīnAksai Chin, a disputed region in the Tibetan plateau
钦北区qīn běi qūQinbei, a district of Qinzhou City 欽州市|钦州市, Guangxi
钦州市qīn zhōu shìQinzhou, prefecture-level city in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region 廣西壯族自治區|广西壮族自治区
钦定verbqīn dìngto authorize
皮钦语nounpí qīn yǔpidgin
王钦若wáng qīn ruòWang Qinruo (962-1025), Northern Song dynasty official
钦命nounqīn mìngImperial order or edict (old)
德钦proper-noundé qīnsee 德欽縣|德钦县
25
Total compounds
68
As first character
16
As last character
16
As middle character

钦 appears in 25 compound words: 68 as the first character, 16 as the last, and 16 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 钦 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

乓pāng
0.70310 co-occurrences
乒pīng
0.69611 co-occurrences
楚chǔ
0.65520 co-occurrences
诚chéng
0.513970 co-occurrences
佩pèi
0.4561,171 co-occurrences
绅shēn
0.447170 co-occurrences
郑zhèng
0.444660 co-occurrences
赐cì
0.444452 co-occurrences
叶yè
0.442980 co-occurrences
王wáng
0.42320 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这把钦钥匙已经传承了三代人。

zhè bǎ qīn yuè chí yǐ jīng chuán chéng le sān dài rén .

This imperial key has been passed down through three generations.

English News - RthkFeb 2026

王楚钦等国乒球手晋级世界乒乓球职业大联盟新加坡...

wáng chǔ qīn děng guó pīng qiú shǒu jìn jí shì jiè pīng pāng qiú zhí yè dà lián méng xīn jiā pō . . .

Wang Chuqin and other national table tennis players advanced to the World Table Tennis Professional League Singapore...

Orientaldaily MyFeb 2026

吴伟钦促落实公共工程制度改革 加速“大新山”城...

wú wěi qīn cù luò shí gōng gòng gōng chéng zhì dù gǎi gé jiā sù dà xīn shān chéng . . .

Wu Weiqin promotes the implementation of public works system reform and accelerates the "Great New Bahru" city...

大紀元 | 大紀元新聞網Feb 2026

眼镜店老板:钦佩神韵揭露迫害的勇气和智慧

yǎn jìng diàn lǎo bǎn : qīn pèi shén yùn jiē lù pò hài de yǒng qì hé zhì huì

Optical shop owner: Admire Shen Yun's courage and wisdom in exposing persecution

大紀元 | 大紀元新聞網Feb 2026

公司老板钦佩神韵复兴传统:极具教育意义

gōng sī lǎo bǎn qīn pèi shén yùn fù xīng chuán tǒng : jí jù jiào yù yì yì

Company owners admire Shen Yun for reviving traditions: very educational

百度新闻Feb 2026

大看台|从郑钦文到宁忠岩:冲破欧美垄断 镌刻东方印..

dà kàn tái cóng zhèng qīn wén dào nìng zhōng yán : chōng pò ōu měi lǒng duàn 镌 kè dōng fāng yìn . .

From Zheng Qinwen to Ning Zhongyan: Breaking through the monopoly of Europe and the United States and engraved the Oriental Seal:

Tatoeba

我很钦佩他的慷慨大方。

Wǒ hěn qīnpèi tā de kāngkǎi dàfāng.

I had great admiration for his generosity.

Tatoeba

拉钦举办了一场音乐会,庆祝 5 月 28 日的独立纪念日。

Lā qīn jǔbàn le yī chǎng yīnyuèhuì, qìngzhù 5 yuè 28 rì de dúlì jìniànrì.

Lachin hosted concert marking May 28 – Independence Day.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 钅 (gold) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced qīn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 钦 (qīn) mean in Chinese?
钦 (qīn) primarily means "to respect." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2101 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 钦 and 软?
钦 (qīn) and 软 (ruǎn) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 钅 vs 车 (same 欠 component).
How many strokes does 钦 have?
钦 is written with 9 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 钦?
The radical associated with 钦 is 钅 (metal). This radical appears in many characters related to metal.
What are the components of 钦?
钦 is composed of: 钅 (semantic), 欠 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰钅欠 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 钦?
Common words with 钦 include: 钦佩 (qīn pèi, "to admire"); 叶利钦 (yè lì qīn, "Yeltsin (name)"); 尤尔钦科 (yóu ěr qīn kē, "Yurchenko (name)"); 钦差 (qīn chāi, "imperial envoy"); 钦奈 (qīn nài, "Chennai, capital of southeast Indian state Tamil Nadu 泰米爾納德邦|泰米尔纳德邦"). There are over 25 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 钦 (qīn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation qīn: 亲 (parent), 侵 (to invade), 勤 (diligent). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 钦 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 钦 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 钦 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.