Classical citations:
《書經》(Shujing)
「王曰：封汝為侯。」
“The king said: I enfeoff you as a marquis.”

《左傳》 (Zuo Zhuan)
「諸侯朝于王。」
“The various lords came to court before the king.”

A pictophonetic that historically developed from a simplified or abbreviated form of 矦.
Phonetic: 矦 (an old form related to nobles or guards)
Semantic: 

human, person

 (“person”) indicates that the meaning relates to a person of rank or status.
Although sometimes described as a “simplified character that became the standard form,” 侯 appears already in bronze inscriptions, where it referred to a noble or leader — often a border lord.
《說文解字》 (Shuowen Jiezi)：
「侯，君也。從人矦聲。」
“侯 means a ruler. Formed from 

Characters

Words

Vocabulary

to cause, to order, to use, to employ

to come, to arrive, future, afterward

extravagant, luxurious, wasteful, arrogant

law, rule, regulation, example, instance, precedent, model

to serve, to attend

to offer, to supply, to provide, to serve

to rely on, to depend on, to lean on

to despise, to insult

marquis, feudal lord

to invade, infringe, encroach upon, or intrude, to erode or gradually affect

companion, partner, mate, friend

convenient, comfortable, excrement

to tie, to be tied, to connect, to relate

to urge, hasten

custom, common, vulgar

to protect, preserve, keep

to trust, to believe, to be true

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Chinese character

Explore 214 Chinese radicals and their derived characters. Sort by radical or stroke count, and view the complete list of official Hanja radicals.

Chinese characters (Hanja)

Chinese characters dictionary

侯

Etymology

Words that derived from 侯

Additional notes

Neighboring characters in the dictionary