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甲

Mandarin · pinyin jiǎ

Meanings

  1. first of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干 shí tiān gān
  2. (used for an unspecified person or thing)
  3. first (in a list, as a party to a contract etc)
  4. letter "A" or roman "I" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc
  5. armor plating
  6. shell or carapace
  7. (of the fingers or toes) nail
  8. bladed leather or metal armor (old)
  9. ranking system used in the Imperial examinations (old)
  10. civil administration unit in the baojia 保甲 bǎo jiǎ system (old)
  11. ancient Chinese compass point: 75°
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Characters in this entry

甲
jiǎ · armor, shell; fingernails; 1st heavenly stem
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Entries containing 甲 ↗Words written with 甲 ↗

Mandarin tones

3 · jia3

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Connected dictionary

1character link24same-tone records2source references
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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

甲 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 19 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gaap3

Cantonese word readings for 甲. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

character · Etymology 1

  1. shell; carapace
  2. plate armor
  3. nail (plate at the end of fingers and toes)
  4. the first of the ten heavenly stems
  5. number one; first; A
  6. (organic chemistry) metho-
  7. to be first in; to be unparalleled among
  8. pronoun for an unspecified or unknown person or thing
  9. a surname

character · Etymology 2

  1. (Taiwan) unit of land (area) measure, equivalent to 2,934 坪 (píng) or 0.97 hectares, roughly 2.1 acres

character · Etymology 3

  1. (Min, Southern) Used after a verb or an adjective and before a degree complement.
  2. (Taiwan) to; until; to the extent

character · Etymology 3

  1. (Xiamen, Quanzhou and Philippine Hokkien) very; really; badly

character · Etymology 4

  1. (Xiamen, Zhangzhou and Taiwanese Hokkien) how is it that; how could
  2. (Zhangzhou and Taiwanese Hokkien) since; as; now that; considering
  3. (Zhangzhou Hokkien) only after; only then; not ... until

character · Etymology 5

  1. (Southern Min) alternative form of 佮 (kah, kap, “and; with”)

character · Etymology 6

  1. (Southern Min) alternative form of 共 (kā)

character · Etymology 7

  1. (Taiwanese Mandarin) gay; homosexual

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

甲 · jia3
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 74,864
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record甲 甲 [jia3] /first of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1]/(used for an unspecified person or thing)/first (in a list, as a party to a contract etc)/letter "A" or roman "I" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc/armor plating/shell or carapace/(of the fingers or toes) nail/bladed leather or metal armor (old)/ranking system used in the Imperial examinations (old)/civil administration unit in the baojia 保甲[bao3 jia3] system (old)/ancient Chinese compass point: 75°/