盒 (hé): small box; case; container

Meanings

1 small box; case; container
2 (measure word) box of something

Characters

盒

hé

box; case

Examples

给我一盒牛奶。

Gěi wǒ yī hé niúnǎi.

Give me a carton of milk.

这盒巧克力是送你的。

Zhè hé qiǎokèlì shì sòng nǐ de.

This box of chocolates is for you.

她打开了一盒饼干。

Tā dǎkāi le yī hé bǐnggān.

She opened a box of crackers.

Tips

usage

盒 is both a noun (a box) and a very common measure word: 一盒牛奶 (a carton of milk), 一盒烟 (a pack of cigarettes), 一盒火柴 (a box of matches).

usage

盒子 (hézi) is the more colloquial word for 'box.' 盒 alone tends to appear more as a measure word.

Components

radical

皿 mǐn

vessel; dish

Bottom indexing radical 皿 — pictograph of a footed bowl or vessel. Anchors 盒 in the container family: 盆 (basin), 盘 (plate), 盅 (small cup), 盆 (tub). The vessel below + the closing-lid above gives the complete picture: a covered container, i.e. a box.

phonetic

合 hé

to combine; close; fit

Top 合 supplies the sound (hé → hé, identical) and a tight semantic echo: 合 means 'to close, fit together' — exactly what a box does with its lid. 合 itself pictures a lid 亼 over a mouth/vessel 口. So 盒 is a phono-semantic compound where the phonetic also reinforces the meaning.