甲
jiǎ
first of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1]
(used for an unspecified person or thing); first (in a list, as a party to a contract etc); letter "A" or roman "I" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc; armor plating; shell or carapace; (of the fingers or toes) nail; bladed leather or metal armor (old); ranking system used in the Imperial examinations (old); civil administration unit in the baojia 保甲[bao3 jia3] system (old); ancient Chinese compass point: 75°
a picture of 甲 → a seed cracking open its shell: first, armor, nail
甲 originally depicted a seed with a sprout breaking through its shell — the very first push of life, which is why it came to mean 'first' and also 'shell' or 'armor.' The outer frame is the husk; the cross inside is the seedling forcing its way out.
合同上写明甲方和乙方的权利。
hé tong shàng xiě míng jiǎ fāng hé yǐ fāng de quán lì 。
The contract clearly states the rights of Party A and Party B.
他在这次考试中名列甲等。
tā zài zhè cì kǎo shì zhōng míng liè jiǎ děng 。
He ranked in the top grade in this exam.
Words with 甲
装甲
zhuāng jiǎ
vehicle armor
路人甲
lù rén jiǎ
ordinary person A; generic person; some random person
甲乙
jiǎ yǐ
first two of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1]
甲状腺
jiǎ zhuàng xiàn
(anatomy) thyroid gland
甲板
jiǎ bǎn
deck (of a boat etc)
甲骨文
jiǎ gǔ wén
oracle script
甲子
jiǎ zǐ
first year of the sixty-year cycle (where each year is numbered with one of the 10 heavenly stems 天干[tian1 gan1] and one of the 12 earthly branches 地支[di4 zhi1])
保甲
bǎo jiǎ
historical communal administrative and self-defence system created during the Song Dynasty and revived during the Republican Era, in which households are grouped in jia 甲[jia3] and jia are grouped in bao 保[bao3]
马六甲
mǎ liù jiǎ
Malacca or Melaka (town and state in Malaysia), also strait between Malaysia and Sumatra
马甲
mǎ jiǎ
corset
装甲车
zhuāng jiǎ chē
armored car
过氧化苯甲酰
guò yǎng huà běn jiǎ xiān
benzoil peroxide