甲 (jiǎ): first (of the Heavenly Stems); grade A; number one

Meanings

Jiǎ fāng hé yǐ fāng qiān le hétong.

Party A and Party B signed the contract.

Zhè dòng lóu de fánghuǒ děngjí shì jiǎ jí.

This building's fire rating is Grade A.

Wūguī de jiǎqiào hěn jiānyìng.

A turtle's shell is very hard.

Tā de zhǐjiǎ tú chéng le hóngsè.

She painted her nails red.

culture

甲乙丙丁 (jiǎ yǐ bǐng dīng) are the first four Heavenly Stems, used like A/B/C/D in Chinese. In contracts, 甲方 is 'Party A' and 乙方 is 'Party B.'

usage

甲 appears in many compounds: 指甲 (fingernail), 甲板 (deck of a ship), 装甲 (armored), 甲骨文 (oracle bone script).

甲 jiǎ