县

縣
xiàn
noun HSK 5 #6,036

Meanings

  1. 1 county

Examples

HSK 4
Tā láizì yígè xiǎo xiànchéng.
He comes from a small county town.
HSK 5
Zhège xiàn yǒu wǔshí wàn rénkǒu.
This county has a population of 500,000.
HSK 5
Zhè gè xiàn shǔyú Hénán Shěng.
This county belongs to Henan Province.

Tips

culture
In China's administrative divisions: 省 (province) > 市 (city/prefecture) > 县 (county) > 乡/镇 (township). 县城 means 'county seat/town', often seen as small-town China.

Components

radical
厶 sī
private (graphic only)
Bottom 厶 - historically a small loop, here serving as the tail of the simplified shape. The indexing radical (Kangxi #28). Originally meant 'private, self-enclosing,' though here its role is positional, not meaningful. Family: 去 (go), 公 (public), 参 (join).
semantic
且 qiě
moreover (graphic only)
Top looks like 且 but is a graphic substitute. The traditional 縣 had an inverted head over 系 (rope) - a severed head hung by a cord, originally meaning 'to suspend.' From territories administered as 'hanging from' the central state came the modern sense 'county.'

Stroke Order

县 xiàn