号 meaning in English
(literary) to call out; to command; (bound form) bugle; trumpet
Meaning of 号
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- (literary) to call out; to command
- (bound form) bugle; trumpet
- (bound form) signal; bugle call (e.g. 起床號|起床号[qi3 chuang2 hao4])
- (bound form) mark; sign
- to mark; to label; to assign a number
- (bound form) name; appellation (e.g. 國號|国号[guo2 hao4], 年號|年号[nian2 hao4], 遼寧號|辽宁号[Liao2 ning2 Hao4])
- (after a numeral) number designation (e.g. 237號房間|237号房间[er4 san1 qi1 hao4 fang2 jian1] "Room 237")
- day of the month (e.g. 七號|七号[qi1 hao4] "the 7th")
- (bound form) to wail; to howl
How to use 号
In daily speech 号 (hào) most often means a day of the month or a number in a sequence, like a room, bus, or ticket number. In spoken Chinese people say 号 for dates more than 日 (rì), which sounds more written. Example: 今天几号？(Jīntiān jǐ hào?) What's the date today?
The top of 号 is 口 (kǒu), a mouth, so picture a mouth calling out a number. Think of someone shouting your ticket number at a counter.
Common mistake: Learners often write the bottom part like 亏 or 写 without care. The bottom of 号 is a single bent stroke with a hook, so it should not look like 亏 (kuī). Another trap is reading it as háo everywhere. That tone is only for the meaning "to wail", as in 号叫 (háojiào).
号 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.
号 hào · to call out · 5 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Related words
Words that share a character with 号.
| 信号 | xìnhào | signal |
| 号码 | hàomǎ | number |
| 符号 | fúhào | symbol; mark; sign |
| 型号 | xínghào | model (particular version of a manufactured article); type (product specification in terms |
| 括号 | kuòhào | parentheses; brackets |
| 口号 | kǒuhào | slogan; catchphrase |
| 称号 | chēnghào | name; term of address |
| 号召 | hàozhào | to call; to appeal |
| 车号 | chēhào | vehicle number (license plate number, taxi number, bus number, train car number) |
| 编号 | biānhào | to number; to assign numbers; serial number |
| 代号 | dàihào | code name |
| 头号 | tóuhào | first rate; top rank |
Questions about 号
What does 号 mean?
号 (hào) means "(literary) to call out; to command; (bound form) bugle; trumpet" and is used as a noun and measure word.
How do you write 号?
号 is made of 1 character: 号 (5 strokes). That is 5 strokes in total.
Is 号 an HSK word?
Yes. 号 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 号 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 号 is written 號.
How do I say a full date with 号 in Chinese?
Go from largest to smallest unit: year, month, day. For example, 2024年5月7号 (èr líng èr sì nián wǔ yuè qī hào) means May 7, 2024.
What is the difference between 号 and 号码?
号 is used right after a numeral, as in 8号 (bā hào) "number 8" or "the 8th". 号码 (hàomǎ) is the noun "number" on its own, as in 电话号码 (diànhuà hàomǎ) "phone number".