阁

閣
gé
noun #14,740

Meanings

  1. 1 pavilion (usually two-storied)
  2. 2 cabinet (in politics)
  3. 3 chamber; boudoir
  4. 4 shelf; rack

Examples

HSK 6
Nèigé chéngyuán jīntiān kāihuì tǎolùn le xīn zhèngcè.
Cabinet members met today to discuss new policies.
HSK 7-9
Téng wáng gé shì Zhōngguó sìdà míng lóu zhīyī.
The Pavilion of Prince Teng is one of the four famous towers of China.

Tips

usage
As architecture, 阁 refers to a traditional multi-story pavilion. In politics, 内阁 means 'cabinet' (government). 阁楼 means attic or loft.
culture
Many famous Chinese landmarks contain 阁: 滕王阁 (Tengwang Pavilion), 蓬莱阁 (Penglai Pavilion). These were important cultural gathering places for scholars and poets.

Components

radical
门 mén
gate; door
门 is the simplified gate radical, a wide doorway with two flapping leaves. It is the indexing radical and visually wraps the inside character. Marks 阁 as a building-of-the-gate-family: 阁 originally meant a side-gate pavilion, then by extension a tower or chamber (阁楼, 内阁).
phonetic
各 gè
each; every
各 (gè) supplies the sound - initial preserved, tone shifted from fourth to second (gé). Same phonetic drives 格 (frame), 客 (guest), 络 (network), 铬 (chromium). Inside the door-frame, 各 is purely a sound-marker that distinguishes 阁 from sibling 门-radical chars.

Stroke Order

阁 gé