kǒu

mouth

Pictograph of a mouth.

Evolution

口 Oracle script (~1250-1000 BC)

Oracle script

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

Bronze script

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

Seal script

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

Clerical script

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

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

 

kǒu

mouth; open end; entrance, gate; classifier for things with mouths (people, domestic animals, cannons, wells etc); classifier for bites or mouthfuls

Most common words with 口
Freq.
Word
Meaning

mouth

出口

an exit

人口

population

伤口

wound

开口

to open one's mouth

Component uses

Meaning component in 385 characters (87 verified)

𪠽

Sound component in 7 characters (3 verified)

Iconic component in 42 characters (41 verified)

𠯑 𦰩 𧮫

Simplified component in 1 character (1 verified)

Unknown component in 5 characters (1 verified)

沿

Distinguishing component in 8 characters (8 verified)

Historical pronunciation

Old Chinese

Middle Chinese

Pinyin

Gloss

*kʰˤ(r)oʔ

khuwX

kǒu

mouth


Statistics

HSK level 1

Appears in 86.5930% of movies

344th most common character in movies

212th most common character in books

Miscellaneous

Strokes

3

Unicode

U+53E3

Shuowen

“口,人所以言食也。象形。”


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