州 (zhōu): prefecture, (old) province, (old) administrative division
州 (zhōu) is a Chinese character meaning “prefecture.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 川 (structural). It ranks #721 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 州 islands within a river 川. Its radical form 巛 (river) appears in many related characters such as 川 (chuān, abbr. for Sichuan Province 四川 in southwest China), 巢 (cháo, nest).
Definitions
- prefecture
- (old) province
- (old) administrative division
Etymology & Origin
ideographicIslands within a river 川
Stroke Order
Practice writing 州 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 加州 | jiā zhōu | California |
| 德州 | dé zhōu | see 德州市[De2 zhou1 Shi4] |
| 本州 | běn zhōu | Honshū, the main island of Japan |
| 济州 | jì zhōu | Jeju Island special autonomous province (Cheju Island), South Korea, a World Heritage site |
| 宾州 | bīn zhōu | Pennsylvania |
| 全州 | quán zhōu | see 全州縣|全州县[Quan2 zhou1 Xian4] |
| 兰州 | lán zhōu | see 蘭州市|兰州市[Lan2 zhou1 Shi4] |
| 九州 | jiǔ zhōu | division of China during earliest dynasties |
| 达州 | dá zhōu | see 達州市|达州市[Da2 zhou1 Shi4] |
| 广州 | guǎng zhōu | see 廣州市|广州市[Guang3 zhou1 Shi4] |
| 光州 | guāng zhōu | Guangzhou, old name for Huangchuan 潢川[Huang2 chuan1] in Xinyang 信陽|信阳, Henan |
| 郴州 | chēn zhōu | see 郴州市[Chen1 zhou1 Shi4] |
| 苏州 | sū zhōu | see 蘇州市|苏州市[Su1 zhou1 Shi4] |
| 滨州 | bīn zhōu | see 濱州市|滨州市[Bin1 zhou1 Shi4] |
| 通州 | tōng zhōu | see 通州區|通州区[Tong1 zhou1 Qu1] |
州 appears in 100 compound words: 0 as the first character, 100 as the last, and 0 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 州 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (3)
Example Sentences
老师教我们州字的发音和笔顺。
lǎo shī jiào wǒ men zhōu zì de fā yīn hé bǐ shùn .
The teacher taught us the pronunciation and stroke order of the character "州."
弗吉尼亚州里士满发生枪击事件 两人死亡
弗 jí ní yà zhōu lǐ shì mǎn fā shēng qiāng jī shì jiàn liǎng rén sǐ wáng
Two people were killed in a shooting in Richmond, Virginia
“新春走基层”国外游客称赞贵州“秒通关”
xīn chūn zǒu jī céng guó wài yóu kè chèn zàn guì zhōu miǎo tōng guān
"New Year at the grassroots level" foreign tourists praise Guizhou for "customs clearance in seconds"
“贵州烟火气·黔味中国年”天眼纪录·回家|开往...
guì zhōu yān huǒ qì 黔 wèi zhōng guó nián tiān yǎn jì lù huí jiā kāi wǎng . . .
"Guizhou Fireworks and Qianwei Chinese Year" Tianyan Record Home|Drive to...
南通通州:新年“开机”赶订单 新产能冲刺新目标
nán tōng tōng zhōu : xīn nián kāi jī gǎn dìng dān xīn chǎn néng chōng cì xīn mù biāo
Nantong Tongzhou: New Year's "start-up" to catch up with orders New production capacity sprint to new goals
(外代一线)美国加州遭遇冬季风暴袭击
( wài dài yī xiàn ) měi guó jiā zhōu zāo yù dōng jì fēng bào xí jī
California, USA, was hit by a winter storm
兰辛是密西根州的首府。
Lánxīn shì Mìxīgēn Zhōu de shǒufǔ.
Lansing is the state capital of Michigan.
堪萨斯州刚好位于美国的中央。
Kānsàsīzhōu gānghǎo wèiyú Měiguó de zhōngyāng.
Kansas is smack dab in the middle of the US.
阿萨伊是一种产自巴西帕拉州的浆果。
ā Sà yī shì yīzhǒng chǎn zì Bāxī pà lā zhōu de jiāngguǒ.
Acai is a berry that comes from the state of Pará, Brazil.
今天夜晚去广州的火车票还有吗？
Jīntiān yèwǎn qù Guǎngzhōu de huǒchēpiào háiyǒu ma?
Are there any train tickets to Guangzhou for tonight?
Character Family
巛 Radical Family — Characters sharing the river radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 州 (zhōu) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 州 have?
What is the radical of 州?
What are the components of 州?
What are common words containing 州?
What characters sound the same as 州 (zhōu)?
Is 州 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 州 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.