阖 (hé): to close (a door)

Meanings

1 to close (a door)
2 door leaf
3 whole; entire

Characters

阖

hé

to close; whole

Examples

阖家团聚，共进晚餐。

Héjiā tuánjù, gòng jìn wǎncān.

The whole family gathered for the reunion dinner.

他阖上门，不再答问。

Tā hé shàng mén, bùzài dá wèn.

He closed the door and answered no more questions.

Tips

usage

Most common today in the set greeting 阖家 / 阖府 ('your whole family / household'), used on cards and invitations. The literal 'close the door' sense is literary; everyday Chinese uses 关.

Components

radical

门 mén

door; gate

The outer 门 is the gate radical, framing this as a door word — both 'door leaf' and 'to shut'. Traditional 闔 uses the fuller gate 門.

phonetic

盍 hé

to cover; sound element

Inside the gate sits 盍 ('to cover over'), giving both the sound hé and a hint of meaning — a door covers an opening when shut.

Stroke Order

阖 hé

Related Words

纵横捭阖 zònghéng-bǎihé

political maneuvering and alliance-building / to operate skillfully in politics or diplomacy / to deploy shifting strategies

合 hé HSK 3 #1,830

to close; to shut / to join; to combine; to merge / to fit; to suit; to agree with / to be equal to; to add up to / whole; entire; together / round (of a contest or battle)

关上 guānshàng HSK 1 #3,076

to close (a door, window) / to turn off

关门 guānmén #2,714

to close the door / to shut down / to go out of business

关闭 guānbì HSK 4 #2,087

to close; to shut / to shut down; to close down

接近 jiējìn HSK 3 #1,353

to approach; to get close to / close to; nearly

浑 hún #7,725

muddy; turbid / foolish; muddleheaded / whole; entire (literary)

毕 bì #6,537

to finish; to complete / whole; entire; fully

车门 chēmén #7,474

car door / vehicle door

后门 hòumén #4,259

back door / backdoor (connections; under-the-table dealings)