Meaning of 刻
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- quarter (hour)
- moment
- to carve
- to engrave
- to cut
- oppressive
- classifier for short time intervals
How to use 刻
In daily speech 刻 (kè) most often means a quarter of an hour when telling time, as in 一刻 (yí kè) for 15 minutes and 三刻 (sān kè) for 45 minutes. It also appears in many common words like 立刻 (lìkè) 'immediately' and 时刻 (shíkè) 'moment'. Example: 现在三点一刻。(Xiànzài sān diǎn yí kè.) It is 3:15 now.
刻 has the knife radical 刂 on the right, so think of a knife cutting marks into something. Long ago people marked time by carving notches, which helps you link 'to carve' with 'a quarter hour' and 'a moment'.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes say 两刻 (liǎng kè) for 30 minutes, but Chinese uses 半 (bàn) instead, as in 三点半 (sān diǎn bàn). Also do not confuse 刻 (kè) with 课 (kè, class), which sounds the same but has the speech radical 讠.
刻 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
刻 kè · quarter · 8 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Related words
Words that share a character with 刻.
| 立刻 | lìkè | immediately; at once; right away |
| 时刻 | shíkè | time; juncture |
| 深刻 | shēnkè | profound; deep |
| 此刻 | cǐkè | this moment; now |
| 刻意 | kèyì | intentionally; deliberately; purposely; painstakingly; meticulously |
| 雕刻 | diāokè | to carve; to engrave |
| 苛刻 | kēkè | harsh; severe; demanding |
| 刻苦 | kèkǔ | hardworking; assiduous |
| 刻舟求剑 | kèzhōu-qiújiàn | lit. a notch on the side of a boat to locate a sword dropped overboard (idiom); fig. an ac |
| 一刻 | yīkè | a quarter of an hour; 15 minutes; a moment; an instant |
| 片刻 | piànkè | short period of time; a moment |
| 刻薄 | kèbó | unkind; harsh |
Questions about 刻
What does 刻 mean?
刻 (kè) means "quarter (hour); moment" and is used as a measure word and verb.
How do you write 刻?
刻 is made of 1 character: 刻 (8 strokes). That is 8 strokes in total.
Is 刻 an HSK word?
Yes. 刻 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Does 刻 mean 15 minutes or just any short moment?
Both. In clock time 一刻 is exactly 15 minutes, but in words like 此刻 (cǐkè) and 片刻 (piànkè) it simply means a moment.
What is the difference between 刻 and 雕刻 for 'carve'?
刻 alone is a simple verb, as in 刻字 (kè zì) 'to carve characters'. 雕刻 (diāokè) is a two-syllable word that sounds more formal and often refers to carving as an art.