甲 meaning in English
first of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1]; (used for an unspecified person or thing)
Meaning of 甲
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- first of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1]
- (used for an unspecified person or thing)
- first (in a list, as a party to a contract etc)
- letter "A" or roman "I" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc
- armor plating
- shell or carapace
- (of the fingers or toes) nail
- bladed leather or metal armor (old)
How to use 甲
甲 often means "first" or "A" in lists, grades, and contracts, as in 甲方 (jiǎfāng, Party A) and 乙方 (yǐfāng, Party B). It also appears in words for hard coverings, such as 指甲 (zhǐjia) and 盔甲 (kuījiǎ). Example: 我的指甲太长了。 (Wǒ de zhǐjia tài cháng le.) My nails are too long.
甲 looks like a field 田 with a stake pushed down through the bottom, like a hard shell with a spike. Think of it as a tough outer covering: armor, a shell, or a fingernail.
Common mistake: Learners mix up 甲 with 由 (yóu) and 申 (shēn). In 甲 the vertical stroke sticks out only at the bottom, in 由 only at the top, and in 申 at both ends. Also note that in 指甲 the 甲 is usually read in the neutral tone, zhǐjia.
甲 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.
甲 jiǎ · first of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi… · 5 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Related words
Words that share a character with 甲.
| 指甲 | zhǐjia | fingernail |
| 甲板 | jiǎbǎn | deck (of a ship or boat) |
| 盔甲 | kuījiǎ | armor; body armor and helmet |
| 装甲 | zhuāngjiǎ | vehicle armor |
| 甲虫 | jiǎchóng | beetle |
| 装甲车 | zhuāngjiǎchē | armored car |
| 指甲油 | zhǐjiayóu | nail polish |
| 甲烷 | jiǎwán | methane CH4 |
| 甲子 | jiǎzǐ | first year of the sixty-year cycle (where each year is numbered with one of the 10 heavenl |
| 马甲 | mǎjiǎ | corset; sockpuppet (Internet slang) |
| 修指甲 | xiūzhǐjia | manicure |
| 铠甲 | kǎijiǎ | armor |
Questions about 甲
What does 甲 mean?
甲 (jiǎ) means "first of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1]; (used for an unspecified person or thing)" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 甲?
甲 is made of 1 character: 甲 (5 strokes). That is 5 strokes in total.
Is 甲 an HSK word?
Yes. 甲 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What comes after 甲 in the Heavenly Stems?
The order begins 甲, 乙 (yǐ), 丙 (bǐng), 丁 (dīng), so 甲 and 乙 work like A and B. You will see them in contracts, rankings, and phrases like 甲级 (jiǎjí, grade A).
How is 甲 used for an unspecified person?
In examples or stories, 甲 can stand for "person A" when the name does not matter, often paired with 乙 for "person B". For example, 甲说……乙说…… means "A said... B said...".