Meaning of 权
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- authority
- power
- right
- (literary) to weigh
- expedient
- temporary
- surname Quan
How to use 权
权 rarely stands alone in speech. It mostly appears in compounds like 权力 (quánlì, power), 权利 (quánlì, right), and 人权 (rénquán, human rights). Example: 每个人都有受教育的权利。(Měi gè rén dōu yǒu shòu jiàoyù de quánlì.) Everyone has the right to an education.
权 has 木 (mù, wood) on the left and 又 (yòu, hand) on the right. Picture a hand holding a wooden staff or the arm of a balance scale: whoever holds it has the power to weigh and decide.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 权利 (right, entitlement) and 权力 (power, authority) because they sound exactly the same. Use 权利 for what you are entitled to, and 权力 for control over others. 权 is also sometimes confused with 叔 (shū), which shares the 又 component but has a different left side.
权 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.
权 quán · authority · 6 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 权.
| 权利 | quánlì | right (i.e. an entitlement to sth); (classical) power and wealth |
| 权力 | quánlì | power; authority |
| 政权 | zhèngquán | regime; political power |
| 人权 | rénquán | human rights |
| 授权 | shòuquán | to authorize |
| 特权 | tèquán | prerogative; privilege |
| 权威 | quánwēi | authority; authoritative |
| 权益 | quányì | rights; interests |
| 主权 | zhǔquán | sovereignty |
| 权衡 | quánhéng | to consider; to weigh (a matter) |
| 职权 | zhíquán | authority; power over others |
| 侵权 | qīnquán | to infringe the rights of; to violate |
Questions about 权
What does 权 mean?
权 (quán) means "authority; power" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 权?
权 is made of 1 character: 权 (6 strokes). That is 6 strokes in total.
Is 权 an HSK word?
Yes. 权 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 权 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 权 is written 權.
Why does 权 also mean 'to weigh' or 'temporary'?
In literary Chinese, 权 could refer to the weight on a steelyard scale, so it came to mean weighing options. From that comes the sense of an expedient or temporary measure, as in the set phrase 权宜之计 (quányí zhī jì), a stopgap solution.
How do I say 'copyright' or 'authorization' with 权?
Copyright is 版权 (bǎnquán), and to authorize is 授权 (shòuquán). For example, 未经授权 (wèi jīng shòuquán) means 'without authorization'.