侯
2 readings · tap one to hear it
marquis, second of the five orders of ancient Chinese nobility 五等爵位[wu3 deng3 jue2 wei4]; nobleman; high official
- Strokes
- 9
- Radical
- 人 +7
- Structure
- Left–right 左右
- Traditional
- 侯
- Common rank
- #2,019
- Unicode
- U+4FAF
Sound it out + = · + =
Formation & memory
Break the character into parts you already know.
How 侯 is formed
Pictograph (象形字)
A person 亻 who might be a target 矦
Components 亻 矦
How to remember it
marquis · Heisig RSH #1271
人 person + key + 矢 dart
Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.
Words with 侯
The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 侯马市 | Houma, a county-level city in Linfen City 臨汾市|临汾市[Lin2 fen2 Shi4], Shanxi | |
| 萨达姆·侯赛因 | Saddam Hussein | |
| 胜者王侯败者贼 | see 勝者王侯敗者寇|胜者王侯败者寇[sheng4 zhe3 wang2 hou2 bai4 zhe3 kou4] | |
| 武侯区 | Wuhou, a district of Chengdu City 成都市[Cheng2 du1 Shi4], Sichuan | |
| 王侯将相 | (lit.) kings, nobles, generals and ministers (idiom); (fig.) people of the highest rank an… | |
| 侯景之乱 | rebellion against Liang of the Southern Dynasties 南朝梁 in 548 | |
| 侯门似海 | (lit.) the gate of a noble house is like the sea (idiom); (fig.) there is a wide gap betwe… | |
| 胜者王侯败者寇 | the winners become princes and marquises; the losers are vilified as bandits (idiom); hist… | |
| 万户侯 | Marquis (highest Han dynasty ducal title meaning lord of 10,000 households); high nobles | |
| 侯马 | see 侯馬市|侯马市[Hou2 ma3 Shi4] | |
| 侯赛因 | Husain or Hussein (name); Hussein (c. 626-680), Muslim leader whose martyrdom is commemora… | |
| 宗圣侯 | hereditary title bestowed on Confucius' descendants | |
| 侯门 | noble house | |
| 挟天子以令诸侯 | (expr.) hold the feudal overlord and you control his vassals | |
| 窃国者侯，窃钩者诛 | steal the whole country and they make you a prince, steal a hook and they hang you (idiom,… | |
| 窃钩者诛，窃国者侯 | steal a hook and they hang you, steal the whole country and they make you a prince (idiom,… | |
| 王侯 | aristocracy | |
| 武侯 | see 武侯區|武侯区[Wu3 hou2 Qu1] | |
| 诸侯国 | vassal state | |
| 王侯公卿 | aristocracy |
Sound family
These characters use 侯 as their sound component — compare how they read.