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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

甲

jiǎ
shell; carapace
  • Pictogram
  • HSK 5
  • TOCFL 6
  • radical 田
  • 5 strokes
  • 鉀
  • 钾

Etymology graph

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  • borrowed
  • derived
  • parts
  • meaning component
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  • related
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Origin

Etymology 1

Pictogram (象形): A pictogram of the protective hard shell, carapace, or scales of an animal, or a suit of armor made of connected plates.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *krap (“shell; shield”). Cognate with Tibetan ཁྲབ (khrab, “coat of mail; shield”). Perhaps related to 鞈 (OC *kuːb, *kruːb, “leather jerkin or cuirass”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Dutch akker (“field”) or morgen (“morning”).

Etymology 3

From 到 (kàu).

Etymology 4

Probably from 敢 (kám, káⁿ).

Etymology 7

Homophone of 假 in Mandarin, from Hokkien pronunciation ké, from English gay.

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • partChinese囗 “box, enclosure”
  • partChinese十 “ten”
  • inheritedProto-Sino-Tibetan*krap “to beat, thrash, winnow”
  • borrowedDutchakker “field”
  • derivedHokkienpronunciation
    • derivedEnglishgay “Only possessing sexual and/or romantic attraction towards people one perceives to be the same sex o…”
      • inheritedMiddle Englishgay
        • borrowedOld Frenchgai “gay, merry”
      • derivedEnglishPitman “A surname.”
        • derivedEnglishgraphically “In a graphic manner”

Related: Tibetan ཁྲབ

Words built on it: 早

Meanings

character
  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. metho-

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

甲：東方之孟，陽气萌動，从木戴孚甲之象。一曰人頭宐爲甲，甲象人頭。凡甲之屬皆从甲。

Xu Shen, c. 100 CE — the first analytical dictionary of Chinese characters.

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 天干的第一位。
  2. 等第最優的。 例：甲等、甲級
  3. 超出一般、位居首位。 例：富甲天下、桂林山水甲天下
  4. 古代軍人所穿的護身衣物。以皮革或金屬片製成。 例：盔甲、鎧甲、戰甲
  5. 動物身上具有保護作用的硬殼。 例：龜甲、鱗甲
  6. 手指、腳趾上的角質硬殼。 例：指甲、腳趾甲

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

How 甲 was written 字形演變

  1. 甲 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 甲 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 甲 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  4. 甲 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  5. 甲 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  6. 甲 in Regular script
    Regular
    楷書
    since c. 200 CE

Historical forms collected by the legacy etymfun dataset; most characters have several attested variants.

Sources

  • Structural decomposition (chaizi) — See upstream
  • Historical glyph forms (zdic.net 字形演变) — Rights unverified
  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • 說文解字 Shuowen Jiezi (Xu Shen, c. 100 CE) — Public domain
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 甲