甲 (jiǎ): first (of the Heavenly Stems);…

Meanings

1 first (of the Heavenly Stems); grade A; number one
2 armor; shell; carapace
3 nail (finger/toe)

Characters

甲

jiǎ

armor; shell; first (in a series)

Examples

甲方和乙方签了合同。

Jiǎfāng hé yǐfāng qiān le hétong.

Party A and Party B signed the contract.

这栋楼的防火等级是甲级。

Zhè dòng lóu de fánghuǒ děngjí shì jiǎjí.

This building's fire rating is Grade A.

乌龟的甲壳很坚硬。

Wūguī de jiǎqiào hěn jiānyìng.

A turtle's shell is very hard.

她的指甲涂成了红色。

Tā de zhǐjiǎ tú chéng le hóngsè.

She painted her nails red.

Tips

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).

Components

pictograph

甲 jiǎ

shell; armor; first stem

Pictograph of a turtle shell or sprouting seed bursting through its husk — oracle-bone forms show a cracked rectangle with a tail dropping below. The same image powers all senses: armour, fingernail, and 'first' as in 甲乙丙丁. Indexed under Kangxi #102 田 (tián) by graphic resemblance, though 甲 isn't etymologically a field.

Filed under radical 田 (tián, #102) by convention. 田 is not a separate component in 甲, so no strokes are highlighted.