国

国 · guó

nation, country, nation-state

Entry ↗

Meanings & readings

Meaning & readings

nation, country, nation-state

Mandarin
guó
Cantonese
gwok3

Unihan definitions and selected character readings. Read the word to establish its pronunciation in context.

Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese

Readings recorded for 国 in other language traditions. These are character-level records, not word translations or interchangeable pronunciations.

Japanese 日本語

Grouped by the source’s kana notation; no frequency ranking is implied.

On’yomi · katakana

コク

Kun’yomi · hiragana

くに

Katakana generally indicates on’yomi; hiragana generally indicates kun’yomi. The source does not identify everyday, rare, historical or name use per reading. Kana strings are preserved, including any written endings; consult a Japanese word entry for actual use.

Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kJapanese ↗ · provisional property

コク くに

Korean 한국어

Hanja readings · Hangul

국

Source codes are separated below. They are neither sounds nor tones; a character reading alone does not specify a whole word’s pronunciation.

Reading sources explained
국
Personal-name Hanja (N)
Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kHangul ↗ · provisional property

국:N

Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

Not recorded for this exact character in this dataset. This does not mean the language has no reading.

Form & structure

Writing & identity

Unicode
U+56FD
Radical
囗 · 31
Strokes
8 · Unihan
Residual
5

Source record · Unihan 17.0. Individual senses and historical claims have not yet been reviewed by zimai.

Stroke order

8 strokes
国
Strokes
8
Convention
PRC · Make Me a Hanzi

8 strokes in writing order. Play to watch them, or Step through one at a time.

Modern stroke order; regional conventions can differ. Stroke medians: Make Me a Hanzi via HanziLookupJS, drawn as an even pen line.

Graphical structure

⿴囗玉(GHTJK)
How to read these symbols

⿰ left–right · ⿱ above–below · ⿻ overlap. Dotted boxes indicate positions, not missing characters. Each symbol describes the components that follow it; nested symbols describe a component in more detail. Source codes identify alternative analyses, not a writing sequence or an etymology.

BabelStone IDS · 2025-06-27. Region tags are preserved; 〾 marks approximation and {n} identifies an unencoded source component. These describe graphical structure, not historical derivation.

Words & connections

Words using 国

Character connections

3 catalogue records include this shape in their first retained IDS. Graphical containment does not imply shared etymology.

History & distinctions

Related forms

國

Unihan traditional/simplified variant properties. Conversion may depend on context.

Sources & reference

Evidence & next depth

Source editions & exact scope ↗
Retained Unihan properties
kMandarin
guó
kCantonese
gwok3
kDefinition
nation, country, nation-state
kTotalStrokes
8
kRSUnicode
31.5
kTraditionalVariant
U+570B
kTGH
2013:1081

Readings across dictionaries

Small numbers locate dictionary entries; 粵 introduces Cantonese. Includes rare or historical readings. Source notation ↗

Reference desk

Sentences in context

Find examples using 国 ↗

The attributed sentence collection is still small; this spelling has no retained example yet.

Study this character

Structure & connections

0.10
1,010dictionary records using 国5forms using this shape0attributed sound links
⿴ Full surround

Shape description
囗 surrounds 玉 · the shape used in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea
Source notation ^⿴囗玉$(GHTJK)
BabelStone · 2025-06-27. Encoded shape and region tags; graphical analysis does not establish historical function.

Decompose & trace ↗Browse all 1,010 word records ↗Explore sound families ↗Component search ↗
Retained descriptions & scope

^⿴囗玉$(GHTJK)

All alternatives are retained. Only the first description drives component search and graphical links. Counts describe this snapshot, not frequency. Evidence and method.