规 (guī) is a Chinese character meaning “rule”. It is written from 夫 (man; husband) and 见 (to see), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “rule; standard”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
夫 + 见
Left–right structure
Structure from: Unicode IDS ⿰夫见, verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph strokes (4+4=8)
Memory aid
A grown man (夫) who has seen (见) how things should be done — he is the one who sets the standard everyone else follows.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 规则guī zérule; regulation规 = guī
- 规定guī dìngto stipulate; rule; provision规 = guī
- 规律guī lǜa pattern; a regularity; regular规 = guī
- 规矩guī jǔrules; established practice规 = guīspoken asguī ju
Go deeper
All readings
rule; compass
rule; standard; regulation; a compass for drawing circles
画圆的工具；引申为大家共同遵守的标准或章程。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 规则guī zérule; regulation规 = guī
- 规定guī dìngto stipulate; rule; provision规 = guī
- 规律guī lǜa pattern; a regularity; regular规 = guī
- 规矩guī jǔrules; established practice规 = guīspoken asguī ju
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 规 mean?
规 (guī) means rule; standard; regulation; a compass for drawing circles.
How do you pronounce 规?
It is pronounced guī.
What parts is 规 made of?
夫 (man; husband) and 见 (to see), side by side. The recorded source is: Unicode IDS ⿰夫见, verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph strokes (4+4=8). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 规 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 规?
见. 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 规?
Common ones are 规则 and 规定. The reading of 规 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.