公
public; collectively owned; common; international (e.g. high seas, metric system, calendar); make public; fair; just; Duke, highest of five orders of nobility 五等爵位[wu3 deng3 jue2 wei4]; honorable (gentlemen); father-in-law; male (animal)
4 strokes
Dict coverage rank #50 U+516C
How 公 is formed
Ideographic compound (会意字)
To divide 八 what is private 厶
How to remember it
public · Heisig RSH #696
八 eight + elbow
Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.
Characters built with 公 as their sound component
These characters all use 公 (gōng) as their phonetic component — compare how they read:
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 公 sound component | gōng | fair, equitable; public; duke |
| 松 | sōng | pine tree; fir tree |
| 翁 | wēng | old man; father, father-in-law |
| 讼 | sòng | to accuse, to argue; to dispute, to litigate |
| 颂 | sòng | to laud, to acclaim; ode, hymn |
| 瓮 | wèng | urn, earthen jar |
| 忪 | sōng | calm, peaceful; quiet, tranquil |
| 彸 | zhōng | agitated, restless |
| 蚣 | gōng | centipede |
| 鈆 | yán | lead (element) |
Words containing 公
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 大公国 | dà gōng guó | grand duchy |
| 不公 | bù gōng | unjust; unfair |
| 公子 | gōng zǐ | son of an official; son of nobility; your son (honorific) |
| 大公 | dà gōng | grand duke; impartial |
| 马公市 | Mǎ gōng shì | Makung city in Penghu county 澎湖縣|澎湖县[Peng2 hu2 xian4] (Pescadores Islands), Taiwan |
| 公国 | gōng guó | duchy; dukedom; principality |
| 气不公 | qì bù gōng | indignant |
| 公学 | gōng xué | elite fee-charging independent school in England or Wales (e.g. Eton College) |
| 公安县 | Gōng ān Xiàn | Gong'an, a county in Jingzhou City 荊州市|荆州市[Jing1 zhou1 Shi4], Hubei |
| 花花公子 | huā huā gōng zǐ | playboy |
| 公心 | gōng xīn | fair-mindedness; public spirit |
| 公地 | gōng dì | public land; land in common use |
| 天公 | tiān gōng | heaven; lord of heaven |
| 公马 | gōng mǎ | male horse; stallion; stud |
| 马公 | Mǎ gōng | Makung city in Penghu county 澎湖縣|澎湖县[Peng2 hu2 xian4] (Pescadores Islands), Taiwan |
| 公家 | gōng jiā | the public; the state; society; the public purse |
| 家公 | jiā gōng | head of a family; (polite) my father; (polite) my grandfather; your esteemed father |
| 主人公 | zhǔ rén gōng | hero (of a novel or film); main protagonist |
| 公有化 | gōng yǒu huà | to nationalize; to take over as communal property |
| 天公地道 | tiān gōng dì dào | absolutely fair and reasonable (idiom); equitable |