柜 meaning and stroke order
Cabinet, cupboard, wardrobe; shop counter
How to write 柜, stroke by stroke
8 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 柜
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- Salix multinervis
- cupboard
- cabinet
- wardrobe
- variant of 櫃|柜[gui4]
How 柜 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Wood.
木 gives the meaning and 巨 hints at the sound.
Radical: 木 (tree), shared by 388 characters on this site.
How to remember 柜
柜 combines 木 (mù, wood) with 巨 (jù, huge), which hints at the sound. Picture a huge piece of wooden furniture: a big wooden cabinet or wardrobe.
柜 usually appears in compounds for storage furniture, like 衣柜 (yīguì, wardrobe), 书柜 (shūguì, bookcase) and 柜子 (guìzi, cabinet). It also means a shop counter, as in 柜台 (guìtái). Example: 衣服在衣柜里。(Yīfu zài yīguì lǐ.) The clothes are in the wardrobe.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes read 柜 as jù because of the phonetic 巨, but the common reading is guì with the fourth tone. Also do not confuse it with 框 (kuàng, frame), which has 匡 on the right instead of 巨.
Common words with 柜
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 柜子 | guìzi | cupboard; cabinet | HSK 5 |
| 书柜 | shūguì | bookcase | HSK 5 |
| 柜台 | guìtái | sales counter; front desk; bar; (of financial trading, medicines etc) OTC (over-the-counte | HSK 7-9 |
| 专柜 | zhuānguì | sales counter dedicated to a certain kind of product (e.g. alcohol) | HSK 7-9 |
| 衣柜 | yīguì | wardrobe; armoire | |
| 保险柜 | bǎoxiǎnguì | a safe; strongbox | |
| 储物柜 | chǔwùguì | locker; cabinet | |
| 橱柜 | chúguì | cupboard; cupboard that can also be used as a table | |
| 货柜 | huòguì | counter for the display of goods; (Tw) container (for freight transport) | |
| 出柜 | chūguì | to come out of the closet; to reveal one's sexual orientation | |
| 床头柜 | chuángtóuguì | bedside cabinet | |
| 掌柜 | zhǎngguì | shopkeeper | |
| 冰柜 | bīngguì | freezer |
柜 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 柜
How many strokes are in 柜?
柜 is written with 8 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 柜 mean?
柜 (guì) means cabinet, cupboard, wardrobe; shop counter. A common word with it is 柜子 (guìzi), meaning "cupboard; cabinet".
How do you pronounce 柜?
柜 is pronounced guì, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 柜?
The radical of 柜 is 木, which carries the idea of "tree". Dictionaries list 柜 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 柜?
The traditional form of 柜 is 櫃. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 柜 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 柜 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 柜 is part of the HSK 5 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 3.
What is the difference between 柜子 and 橱柜?
柜子 (guìzi) is a general word for any cabinet or cupboard. 橱柜 (chúguì) usually refers to a kitchen cupboard or cabinet unit.
Does 柜 ever have a reading other than guì?
Yes. It can be read jǔ as the name of a willow species, Salix multinervis. This reading is rare, and in everyday Chinese you will almost always say guì.