泉 (quán): spring (small stream), mouth of a spring, coin (archaic)
泉 (quán) is a Chinese character meaning “spring (small stream).” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 白 (structural) and 水 (structural). It ranks #1630 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 泉 water 水 flowing from a spring 白. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).
Definitions
- spring (small stream)
- mouth of a spring
- coin (archaic)
Etymology & Origin
ideographicWater 水 flowing from a spring 白
Decomposition: ⿱白水 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 泉 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 泉
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 温泉noun | wēn quán | hot spring |
| 喷泉noun | pēn quán | fountain |
| 源泉noun | yuán quán | fountainhead |
| 泉水noun | quán shuǐ | spring water |
| 黄泉noun | huáng quán | the Yellow Springs |
| 小泉proper-noun | xiǎo quán | Koizumi (name) |
| 矿泉noun | kuàng quán | mineral spring |
| 泉源noun | quán yuán | springhead |
| 泉涌 | quán yǒng | to gush |
| 清泉noun | qīng quán | clear spring |
| 泉眼noun | quán yǎn | mouth of a spring or fountain |
| 甘泉noun | gān quán | see 甘泉縣|甘泉县 |
| 涌泉 | yǒng quán | gushing spring |
| 石泉 | shí quán | see 石泉縣|石泉县 |
| 九泉noun | jiǔ quán | the nine springs |
泉 appears in 80 compound words: 18 as the first character, 45 as the last, and 38 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 泉 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (3)
Example Sentences
山间的泉水清澈甘甜，可以直接饮用。
Shānjiān de quánshuǐ qīngchè gāntián, kěyǐ zhíjiē yǐnyòng.
The spring water in the mountains is clear and sweet and can be drunk directly.
泉州小木偶,撬动观演大市场
quán zhōu xiǎo mù ǒu , qiào dòng guàn yǎn dà shì chǎng
Quanzhou puppets leverage the big market for performances
...石野溪泡汤突不适警消抢救 警吁前往野溪温泉应结伴同行
. . . shí yě xī pāo tāng tū bù shì jǐng xiāo qiǎng jiù jǐng xū qián wǎng yě xī wēn quán yīng jié bàn tóng háng
... Shiyexi soaked in hot springs, suddenly uncomfortable, police and rescue Warning to go to Yexi Hot Springs should be accompanied by companions
...HK)百胜中国(09987.HK)农夫山泉(09633.HK)等
. . . H K ) bǎi shèng zhōng guó ( 0 9 9 8 7 . H K ) nóng fū shān quán ( 0 9 6 3 3 . H K ) děng
... HK), Yum China (09987.HK), Nongfu Spring (09633.HK), etc
距離台灣僅110公里!小泉進次郎:2030年在與那國島部署防空飛彈
jù 離 tái 灣 僅 gōng lǐ ! xiǎo quán 進 cì láng nián zài 與 nà 國 島 bù shǔ fáng kōng 飛 彈
[Translation pending - quota exceeded]
“泉”在济南过大年丨烟火年味浓!济南芙蓉街客...
quán zài jì nán guò dà nián 丨 yān huǒ nián wèi nóng ! jì nán 芙 蓉 jiē kè . . .
Celebrating the Lunar New Year in Jinan's "Fountain City" The festive atmosphere is thick with the flavors of home! Jinan's Furong Street is bustling with visitors...
她目睹爱犬在意外中离世，不禁泪如泉涌。
Tā mùdǔ àiquǎn zàiyì wài zhōng líshì, bù jìn lèi rú quányǒng.
She shed plentiful tears when her beloved dog was killed in an accident.
我喜欢喝天然的矿泉水。
Wǒ xǐhuan hē tiānrán de kuàngquánshuǐ.
I like to drink natural mineral water.
两夫妇应该閒时去浸温泉，过过二人世界。
Liǎng fūfù yīnggāi xiánshí qù jìn wēnquán, guòguo èrrén shìjiè.
Sometimes it's good for a married couple to go to a hot spring together—just the two of them.
水是生命的源泉。
Shuǐ shì shēngmìng de yuánquán.
Life cannot exist without water.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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