棺

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coffin

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Formation & memory

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Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

木 meaning “wood” + 官 sound ( guān )

Components 木官

coffin · Heisig RSH #2311

木 tree + 官 bureaucrat

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
不见棺材不落泪	bù jiàn guān cai bù luò lèi	lit. not to shed a tear until one sees the coffin (idiom); fig. refuse to be convinced unt…
盖棺定论	gài guān dìng lùn	don't pass judgment on a person's life until the lid is on the coffin (idiom)
盖棺论定	gài guān lùn dìng	don't pass judgment on a person's life until the lid is on the coffin (idiom)
棺材板	guān cai bǎn	wooden board used to make a coffin (also refers to the coffin itself); (fig.) (of a facial…
石棺	shí guān	sarcophagus
棺木	guān mù	coffin
冰棺	bīng guān	coffin-shaped freezer used to store a corpse
灵棺	líng guān	a bier; a catafalque (memorial platform); a coffin
棺材	guān cai	coffin; CL:具[ju4],口[kou3]
棺材瓤子	guān cai ráng zi	geezer with one foot in the grave (used jokingly or as an imprecation)
瓮棺葬	wèng guān zàng	urn burial
瓮棺	wèng guān	funerary urn
棺椁	guān guǒ	inner and outer coffins; coffin

Characters sharing the sound component 官 — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
官 sound part	guān	official, public servant
管	guǎn	tube, pipe, duct; to manage, to control
倌	guān	assistant, hired hand
菅	jiān	coarse grass; Themedia forskali
涫	guàn	to boil
绾	wǎn	to string together, to bind up
逭	huàn	to flee, to escape, to avoid