冠 (guān) — (literary) to put on a hat; to crown with; (literary) to be the best; to rank first; to precede
Definition
Literary/classical verb. 冠 means 'to put on a hat' or, figuratively, 'to top / rank first' (as in 冠军). Modern Chinese mostly meets 冠 as part of compounds like 冠军, 皇冠, 冠心病 — the standalone verb is rare outside set phrases.
verb
(literary) to put on a hatto crown with(literary) to be the bestto rank firstto precede
Examples
- 冠。Tā de chéng jì guān jué quán xiào.His grades are the best in the whole school.
- 冠。Tā de xué shù chéng jiù guān jué yì shí.His academic achievements were the best of the time.
- 冠。Tā yǐ yí piào zhī chà guān jū bǎng shǒu.He topped the list by one vote.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
冠 shows a hand putting a hat on a head: 寸 is the hand, 冖 is the hat, and 元 is the head.
Appears in
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