guàn / guān
verb #8,305

Meanings

  1. 1 to be first; to be the best
  2. 2 to put a hat on; to crown
  3. 3 to prefix; to give a name to

Examples

Zhōngguóduì zài zhècì bǐsài zhōng duóguàn le.
The Chinese team won the championship at this competition.
Tā shì shìjiè guànjūn.
He is the world champion.
Zhèjiā gōngsī chūqián guànmíng le zhèzuò tǐyùguǎn.
The company paid for the naming rights to this stadium.

Tips

usage
The fourth-tone guàn reading covers 'first / best' and 'to prefix a name': 冠军 (champion), 夺冠 (to take the title), 冠亚军 (champion and runner-up), 冠名 (to take naming rights). For the noun 'hat / crown' use the guān reading.

Components

radical
cover; cap (radical)
Top cover radical, a flat lid with two short downward hooks, picturing a cap pulled over the head. This is the indexing radical for and supplies the core image of headwear, the same lid that crowns and sits over .
semantic
yuán
head; origin; first
Middle originally pictures a person with a marked head, meaning head / top / primary. Sitting under the cover and above the hand, it tells you exactly what gets capped: the head. Reinforces as the highest formal headpiece.
semantic
cùn
hand; inch; measure
Bottom-right depicts a hand with a thumb mark, here the hand that places the cap. The full picture: a hand fitting a hat over a person's head. This scene also licenses the verb reading guàn 'to crown', as in champion.

Stroke Order

guàn