Chinese Character Wiki
侯

hóu

marquis

Original meaning: 

target (archery)

Pictograph of an arrow (矢) hitting a target. Based on the original meaning "target (archery)". The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "marquis", likely because archery was associated with people of high ranking.

Components
◎ iconic component

◎  Iconic component

  

characterless component

Depicts a target.

矢 iconic component

矢  Iconic component

shǐ

  

arrow

Evolution

侯 Oracle script (~1250-1000 BC)

Oracle script

(~1250-1000 BC)
侯 Bronze script Late Shang dynasty (~1100 BC)

Bronze script

Late Shang dynasty (~1100 BC)
侯 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
侯 Clerical script Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
侯 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

侯  

hóu

marquis, lord; target in archery; marquis, second of the five orders of ancient Chinese nobility 五等爵位[wǔ​děng​jué​wèi]; nobleman or high official

侯  

Hóu

surname Hou

Most common words with 侯
Freq.
Word
Meaning

侯

nobleman or high official

诸侯

feudal vassal

侯爵

marquis

侯赛因

Husain or Hussein (name)

武侯

Wuhou district of Chengdu city 成都市[Chéng​dū​shì], Sichuan

Component uses

Sound component in 7 characters (1 verified)

猴 喉 糇 缑 篌 堠 瘊

Historical pronunciation

Old Chinese

Middle Chinese

Pinyin

Gloss

*[g]ˤ(r)o

huw

hóu

feudal lord


Statistics

Not found in HSK word list

Appears in 2.5629% of movies

2825th most common character in movies

1756th most common character in books

Miscellaneous

Strokes

9

Unicode

U+4FAF

Shuowen

“矦，春饗所矦也。从人，从厂，象張布，矢在其下。”


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