侯

hòu

#1,754 most

frequent character

used in 閩侯|闽侯[Min3hou4] (the name of a place in Fujian)

Character breakdown

侯 first drew an arrow target. That gave 'a target for arrows,' which grew to mean a noble official, since such people studied archery, and then 'marquis.' The arrow 矢 can still be seen.

Drawn as: arrow target

侯 as a component in other characters

sound7 characters

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Same Characters, Different Readings

侯Hou2

surname Hou

侯hóu

marquis, second of the five orders of ancient Chinese nobility 五等爵位[wu3deng3 jue2wei4]

Homophones

HSK 4

厚hòu

thick, deep or profound, kind

后hòu

back, behind, after, later