好

Translingual

Stroke order

Etymology

Ideogrammic compound (會意): 女 (“woman”) + 子 (“child”)

The widely accepted meaning of this word is that the words "female" (女) and "child" (子) were put together to form a compound, because it was a good thing for women to have a child. However, a broader interpretation is that the second character, 子, also means "of" or "son". So another possibility could be that it meant two children, a boy and a girl next to each other, which is a good fortune to have a boy and a girl. Lastly, it could mean that the "attitude" of a girl was considered good.

Han character

好 (radical 38 女+3, 6 strokes, cangjie input 女弓木 (VND), four-corner 4744₇, composition ⿰女子)

1. good, fine
2. feeling well or better 好些，好點
3. that one is the better one 好一點
4. best 最好
5. excellent 非常好
6. to like, to prefer something

See also

• 姽

References

• KangXi: page 255, character 11
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 6053
• Dae Jaweon: page 518, character 12
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 2, page 1028, character 1
• Unihan data for U+597D

---

Cantonese

Hanzi

好 (jyutping hou2, hou3, Yale hou2, hou3)

1. good, well
2. very

---

Hakka

Hanzi

好 (POJ háu, hàu, Guangdong hau³; hau³, ho³ [Hailu, Siyan], Hagfa Pinyim hau3, hau4)

References

• CCDICT (Chineselanguage.org)
• Academia Sinica - Hakka-English Dictionary
• Lau, Chun-fat. Hakka Pinyin Dictionary (Chinese). Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1997 (Chinese IME supplement) ISBN 962-201-750-9.

---

Japanese

Kanji

好 (grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. fondness; what one likes

Readings

• On: こう (kō)
• Kun: このむ (好む, konomu), すく (好く, suku), よい (yoi)

Compounds

• 好き (すき, suki)
• 好物 (こうぶつ, kōbutsu)
• 良好 (りょうこう ryōkō)

Compounds

愛好 (あいこう, aikō) 良好 (りょうこう, ryōkō) 友好 (ゆうこう, yūkō)

嗜好品 (しこうひん, shikōhin) 好感 (こうかん, kōkan) 好転 (こうてん, kōten)

好感度 (こうかんど, kōkando) 好事 (こうず, kōzu)

Proper noun

好 (hiragana よしみ, romaji Yoshimi)

1. A male given name

---

Korean

Hanja

好 (hangeul 호, revised ho, McCune-Reischauer ho)

---

Mandarin

Pronunciation

• hǎo

  (file)

• hào

  (file)

Adjective

好 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin hǎo)

1. good, well

   你好吗？ - Are you well?

好 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin hào)

1. be fond of

Hanzi

好 (pinyin hǎo (hao3), hào (hao4), Wade-Giles hao³, hao⁴)

Compounds

compound words that contain 好

hǎo 好比 好不 好不容易 好吃 好丑 好处 好处费 好歹 好的 好端端, 好端端的 好多 好法儿 好感 好过 好汉 好好儿, 好好儿的 好好先生 好喝 好话 好坏 好货 好几 好家伙 好景不长 好久 好看 好赖 好了伤疤忘了痛 好力宝 好脸, 好脸儿 好马不吃回头草 好孬 好评 好气儿 好球 好儿 好惹 好人 好人好事 好人家, 好人家儿 好日子 好容易 好上加好 好生 好声好气, 好声好气的 好使 好事 好事不出门，恶事传千里 好事不宜迟 好事多磨 好手, 好手儿 好受 好说 好说歹说 好说话儿 好死 好似 好天儿 好听 好玩儿 好闻 好戏 好像 好小子 好笑 好些 好心 好心不得好报 好性儿 好样儿的 好意 好意思 好用 好友 好运 好在 好找 好转 好自为之 好走 hào 好吃 好大喜功 好动 好高鹜远, 好高务远 好客 好奇 好强 好色 好尚 好胜 好事 好为人师 好恶 好行小惠 好学 好逸恶劳 好战 好整以暇

---

Middle Chinese

Han character

女 (*xaù, *xǎu)

---

Vietnamese

Han character

好 (hảo, háo, háu, hão, hếu, hiếu, hấu, hẩu)