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kǒu
HSK 1freq #637

Meanings

CC-CEDICT

kǒu
  1. 1.mouth
  2. 2.classifier for things with mouths (people, domestic animals, cannons, wells etc)
  3. 3.classifier for bites or mouthfuls

CC-CEDICT · CC BY-SA

Wiktionary

  1. 1.mouth, especially the lips and internal mouth cavity (Classifier: 把 c)
  2. 2.entrance; opening; mouth (of an object)
  3. 3.gateway; mountain pass
  4. 4.hole; cut
  5. 5.blade; edge of a knife
  6. 6.port
  7. 7.perimeter
  8. 8.government organ; department
  9. 9.Classifier for family members, populations, livestock. ⇒ all nouns using this classifier
  10. 10.Classifier for bites or mouthfuls.
  11. 11.Classifier for things with an opening: wells, pots, jars, guns, etc.
  12. 12.Classifier for utensils with a blade: knives, swords, etc.
  13. 13.to fellate
  14. 14.a surname

Wiktionary · CC BY-SA

Etymology

Pictogram (象形) – resembles an open mouth. In the oracle bone script, radical 口 is used for characters having abstract meanings. Such a character can have a figurative meaning derived from the phonetic part, e.g. 右 (OC *ɢʷɯʔ, *ɢʷɯs, “right”) = 又 (OC *ɢʷɯs, “right hand”) + 口 and 𪪺 (“strong; powerful”) = 弓 (OC *kʷɯŋ, “bow”) + 口, or be an unrelated borrowing, e.g. 否 (OC *brɯʔ, *pɯʔ, “no”) = 不 (OC *pɯ, *pɯʔ, *pɯ', “calyx”) + 口. From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ku(w) (“mouth”). Cognate with Garo ku·sik (“mouth”), Tangut 𗋈 (*ŋwu², “mouth”).

Wiktionary · CC BY-SA

Stroke order

Components

Components from cjk-decomp · MIT

Example sentences

Sentences from Tatoeba · CC-BY 2.0 FR

More examples & usage (AI)

Synonyms

Wiktionary · CC BY-SA

Derived terms

Wiktionary · CC BY-SA

Related words