Meaning of 官
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- government official
- governmental
- official
- public
- organ of the body
Measure word: 個|个
- surname Guan
How to use 官
官 rarely stands alone in modern speech. It usually appears in compounds like 法官 (fǎguān, judge), 外交官 (wàijiāoguān, diplomat), 官方 (guānfāng, official) and 器官 (qìguān, body organ). Example: 他想当外交官。(Tā xiǎng dāng wàijiāoguān.) He wants to become a diplomat.
官 has the roof radical 宀 on top, sitting over a shape that looks like stacked rooms or files. Picture an official working under a government roof, surrounded by piles of paperwork.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 官 (guān) with 馆 (guǎn, as in 图书馆). The two look alike, but 馆 adds the food radical 饣 and takes the third tone. Also note that 官司 (guānsi) is a lawsuit, not a company, so do not confuse it with 公司 (gōngsī).
官 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.
官 guān · government official · 8 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 官.
| 法官 | fǎguān | judge (in court) |
| 官方 | guānfāng | government; official (approved or issued by an authority) |
| 器官 | qìguān | (physiology) organ; apparatus |
| 外交官 | wàijiāoguān | diplomat |
| 官司 | guānsi | lawsuit |
| 打官司 | dǎ guānsi | to file a lawsuit; to sue |
| 警官 | jǐngguān | constable; police officer |
| 军官 | jūnguān | officer (military) |
| 官员 | guānyuán | official (in an organization or government); administrator |
| 官僚 | guānliáo | bureaucrat; bureaucracy |
| 官兵 | guānbīng | (military) officers and soldiers; officers and men |
| 官吏 | guānlì | bureaucrat; official |
Questions about 官
What does 官 mean?
官 (guān) means "government official; governmental" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 官?
官 is made of 1 character: 官 (8 strokes). That is 8 strokes in total.
Is 官 an HSK word?
Yes. 官 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do you say 'to sue someone' in Chinese using 官?
Use 打官司 (dǎ guānsi), literally 'to fight a lawsuit'. For example, 他们打算打官司。(Tāmen dǎsuàn dǎ guānsi.) They plan to go to court.
Why does 官 appear in 器官, the word for a body organ?
In 器官 (qìguān), 官 carries its sense of 'organ of the body', a part with a specific job. You can think of each organ as an official with its own duty in the body.