冠 (guān) is a Chinese character meaning “hat”. It is written from 冖 (cover) and 㝴 (lower block of 冠: 元 with 寸 written beside it), one above the other, and takes 9 strokes. It has a second reading, guàn, which turns up in 冠军 — here the two readings are two separate things to learn, not one card with two answers.
Build the character for “hat; crown”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
冖 + 㝴
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: cjkvi-ids (build-time lookup: 冠 ⿱冖㝴; 㝴 ⿺元寸), cross-checked against hanzi-writer-data stroke medians
Memory aid
A cover (冖) is set on top of the block below (㝴), the way a cap settles on a head — a hat, a crown.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 皇冠huáng guāncrown冠 = guān
- 鸡冠jī guāncockscomb (a rooster's comb)冠 = guān
Go deeper
All readings
hat; crown
hat; cap; crown; crest (of a bird)
帽子；像帽子一样长在顶上的东西，如鸡冠。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 皇冠huáng guāncrown冠 = guān
- 鸡冠jī guāncockscomb (a rooster's comb)冠 = guān
to be first; champion
to be the best; first place; to put a hat on
位居第一；超出众人。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 冠军guàn jūnchampion; first place冠 = guàn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 冠 mean?
冠 (guān) means hat; cap; crown; crest (of a bird).
How do you pronounce 冠?
Its main reading is guān. It also has a second reading, guàn, which only shows up in certain words such as 冠军 — so the word tells you the reading, not the character on its own.
Why is 冠 sometimes pronounced guàn?
Because it is a multi-reading character: each reading carries a different sense, and the word decides which one applies. In 冠军 it is read guàn.
What parts is 冠 made of?
冖 (cover) and 㝴 (lower block of 冠: 元 with 寸 written beside it), one above the other. The recorded source is: cjkvi-ids (build-time lookup: 冠 ⿱冖㝴; 㝴 ⿺元寸), cross-checked against hanzi-writer-data stroke medians. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 冠 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 冠?
冖. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 冠?
Common ones are 皇冠 and 鸡冠. The reading of 冠 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.