户 (hù): household; family

Meanings

1 household; family
2 door

Characters

户

hù

door; household; family

Examples

这个小区有五百户居民。

Zhège xiǎoqū yǒu wǔbǎi hù jūmín.

This residential compound has 500 households.

请带好你的户口本。

Qǐng dàihǎo nǐ de hùkǒuběn.

Please bring your household registration booklet.

开户需要身份证。

Kāihù xūyào shēnfènzhèng.

You need an ID card to open an account.

Tips

culture

户口 is China's household registration system, tying a person to their registered city for schools, healthcare, and social services.

usage

户 appears in many compounds: 用户 (user), 客户 (client), 账户 (account).

Components

pictograph

户 hù

single-leaf door; household

Self-component. Pictograph of a single-leaf door — exactly half of 門 (the double-door). The image is one panel hinged on its frame. From 'door' came 'household' (one door = one family unit), the dominant modern sense. As Kangxi radical #63 it heads characters about doors and dwellings: 房, 扇, 扁.

Radical

Door Kangxi #63

Pictograph of a single-leaf door (half of 門). As a radical it points to doors and openings, by extension households — 房 (room/house), 扇 (fan/leaf of door), 扁 (flat, originally a tablet hung above a door), 启 (open). The standalone meaning has shifted decisively toward 'household' in modern Chinese.