甲

jiǎ
HSK 5
#1,104 most
frequent character
first of the ten heavenly stems 十天干|十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1]
noun

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

甲 is an abstract sign, not a picture of a thing. In early texts it was the first Heavenly Stem, and from that it grew to 'first in a series' and 'first party.' 'Armor plating' was borrowed only for its sound; 'shell' and 'nail' later grew from that.

甲 as a component in other characters

meaning2 characters
钾厣
sound10 characters
押鸭匣闸钾呷岬胛狎柙

Ask DeepSeek

Example Sentences

今天是甲的第一天。
jīntiānshì jiǎ de dìyī tiān 。
Today is the first day of Jia.
他的甲壳很坚硬。
tāde jiǎqiào hěn jiānyìng 。
His shell is very hard.
在古代，甲代表了一种军装。
zài gǔdài ， jiǎ dàibiǎo le yīzhǒng jūnzhuāng 。
In ancient times, Jia represented a type of military armor.

Words with similar meanings

外壳wàiké
shell
Refers specifically to the hard outer covering of certain organisms; more biological context.
护甲hùjiǎ
armor
Specifically indicates protective gear used by soldiers; more military context.

Your word lists

Sign in to add this word to your private lists.

Public Lists with 甲

Advanced HSK5 Terms
Vocabulary commonly seen in HSK5 practice, bridging mid-high level usage.
HSK 5
All words for the HSK 5 test