花

Han character

See images of 花
(radical 140 + 4)

花 (Kangxi radical 140, 艸+4, 8 strokes in traditional Chinese and Korean, 7 strokes in simplified Chinese and Japanese, cangjie input 廿人心 (TOP), four-corner 4421₄, composition ⿱艹化)

Glyph origin

More information Historical forms of the character 花, Western Zhou ...

Historical forms of the character 花
Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

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Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *hʷraː): semantic 艹 (“grass; plant”) + phonetic 化 (OC *hŋʷraːls). Originally 𠌶 or 華 before the Han dynasty.

Etymology

Unclear. According to Schuessler (2007), either from:

• Proto-Sino-Tibetan *baːr (“bloom, flower”) and thus an example of possible *b ~ *w variation, with final -r moved to medial position. If so, cognate with 葩 (OC *pʰraː); outside Sinitic, compare Burmese ပန်း (pan:), Lepcha ᰓᰫᰲ (búr), Mizo páar. Sagart (2021) also connects it to 葩 (OC *pʰˤra), modifying Baxter and Sagart's (2014) reconstruction to *Cə-pʰˤra and proposing the sound changes *Cə-pʰ- > *Cə-ɸ- > *ɸ- > xw-.
• Or from Austroasiatic; compare Proto-Mon-Khmer *pkaaw ~ *pkaʔ (“flower, blossom”).

華 (OC *ɡʷraː, “to flower”) is a derivative.

Pronunciation

Definitions

花

1. flower; blossom (Classifier: 朵 m c; 支 m c; 蕊 h mn; 束 m c; 把 m; 盆 m c; 簇 m; 紮／扎 c)

   太陽花／太阳花  ―  tàiyánghuā  ―  sunflower

   開花／开花  ―  kāihuā  ―  to blossom

2. florid; flowery

   花花綠綠／花花绿绿  ―  huāhualǜlǜ  ―  colorful

3. pattern; design

   花紋／花纹  ―  huāwén  ―  decorative pattern

4. blurred

   眼花  ―  yǎnhuā  ―  to have blurred vision

5. fireworks

   煙花／烟花  ―  yānhuā  ―  fireworks

6. essence; cream
7. wound; wounded
   • 1998, Chiung Yao, 還珠格格, episode 13, 赵薇 (actor):

     本來呀，我可以狠狠的教訓他一頓，當著所有的太監和宮女面前，打得他臉蛋開花！ [MSC, trad.]
     本来呀，我可以狠狠的教训他一顿，当着所有的太监和宫女面前，打得他脸蛋开花！ [MSC, simp.]

     Běnlái ya, wǒ kěyǐ hěnhēn de jiàoxùn tā yī dùn, dāng zhe suǒyǒu de tàijiān hé gōngnǚ miànqián, dǎ de tā liǎndàn kāi huā! [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2001, Chiung Yao, 情深深雨濛濛, 49 episodes edition, episode 2, 蘇有朋 (actor):

     你沒有對人家怎麼樣？你看那姑娘臉都花了！ [MSC, trad.]
     你没有对人家怎么样？你看那姑娘脸都花了！ [MSC, simp.]

     Nǐ méiyǒu duì rénjiā zěnmeyàng? Nǐ kàn nà gūniang liǎn dōu huā lei! [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2004, 臧希, 臧里, “英雄气概（下）” (11:03 from the start), in 家有儿女, season 1, episode 34, 马书良 (actor):

     一进门啊，我先□他个满脸花。让他服软。 [Beijing Mandarin, simp.]
     一進門啊，我先□他個滿臉花。讓他服軟。 [Beijing Mandarin, trad.]

     Yī jìn ménr a, wǒ xiān cèi tā ge mǎn liǎn huā. Ràng tā fúruǎnr. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

8. Short for 天花 (tiānhuā, “smallpox”).

   種花／种花  ―  zhònghuā  ―  to vaccinate against smallpox

9. courtesan; prostitute
10. to spend (money, time, etc.); to cost

    這件衣服花了不到一百塊 [MSC, trad.]
    这件衣服花了不到一百块 [MSC, simp.]

    zhè jiàn yīfú huā le bùdào yībǎi kuài [Pinyin]

    This clothing cost less than 100 yuan.

11. profligate
12. (slang) randy; lecherous
13. (slang) to be horny; to womanize

    儂又要去花儂個女朋友了是𠲎？ [Shanghainese, trad.]
    侬又要去花侬个女朋友了是𠲎？ [Shanghainese, simp.]

    From: 2007, 上海话大词典, page 52

    ⁶non ⁶yeu ⁵iau ⁵chi ¹ho ⁶non ⁸gheq ⁶gniu-ban-yeu ⁰leq ⁶zy-va [Wugniu]

    You're going to seduce your girlfriend again aren't you?

14. false
15. (Cantonese) scratched

    佢著咗呢對鞋兩個月就已經花嗮喇。 [Cantonese, trad.]
    佢着咗呢对鞋两个月就已经花嗮喇。 [Cantonese, simp.]

    keoi⁵ zoek³ zo² ni¹ deoi³ haai⁴ loeng⁵ go³ jyut⁶ zau⁶ ji⁵ ging¹ faa¹ saai³ laa³. [Jyutping]

    He's worn the shoes for only two months and they're already all scratched up.

    個底花嗮／个底花嗮 [Cantonese]  ―  go³ dai² faa¹ saai³ [Jyutping]  ―  to have a bad record

16. (Cantonese, of images, drawings, patterns, etc.) over-colorful; chaotic; messy
17. (Cantonese, card games) flush
18. (Hong Kong) pip (insignia) (Classifier: 粒 c)
    • 1991, Fight Back to School, spoken by Police Commissioner (Scissor Legs) (Barry Wong):

    • 男人婆，同我叫嗮啲膊頭有花嘅即刻上嚟！ [Cantonese, trad.]
      男人婆，同我叫嗮啲膊头有花嘅即刻上嚟！ [Cantonese, simp.]

      naam⁴ jan⁴ po⁴, tung⁴ ngo⁵ giu³ saai³ di¹ bok³ tau⁴ jau⁵ faa¹ ge³ zik¹ kaak¹ soeng⁵ lei⁴! [Jyutping]

      Tomboy, call everyone who has pips on their shoulder to here!

19. (Xiamen and Zhangzhou Hokkien) to extinguish; to put out (of fire)
20. (Quanzhou Hokkien) to disappear (of a scar)
21. (dialectal Mandarin, Northern Wu) Clipping of 棉花 (“cotton”).

    • 張家裡囡兒末張家裡花　張家裡囡兒末登勒田中卸棉花 [Northern Wu, trad.]
      张家里囡儿末张家里花　张家里囡儿末登勒田中卸棉花 [Northern Wu, simp.]

      From: , "Of whose family's this daughter, of whose family these blooms" (啥人家囡兒啥人家花), Southern Wuxi folklore tune

      ¹tsan-ka₁-li₀ ⁶noe-gni₂-meq₈ ¹tsan-ka₁-li₀ ¹hu ¹tsan-ka₁-li₀ ⁶noe-gni₂-meq₈ ¹ten-leq₈ ²die-tson₁ ⁵sia ²mie-hu₁ [Wugniu]

      Of the Chang family is this daughter; for the Chang family this cotton blooms. It is a daughter of the Chang family, who unloads cotton here in these fields.

22. (Shanghainese) to tease

    儂覅來花我了，我根本覅儂搿本書。 [Shanghainese, trad.]
    侬覅来花我了，我根本覅侬搿本书。 [Shanghainese, simp.]

    From: 2007, 上海话大词典, page 52

    ⁶non ⁶viau ⁶le ¹ho-ngu₆-leq₀ ⁶ngu ¹ken-pen₅ ⁶viau ⁶non ⁸geq-pen₆ ¹sy [Wugniu]

    Stop teasing me, I didn't even want your book in the first place.

23. a surname, Hua

Compounds

Descendants

Others:

• → Ai-Cham: hwa¹
• → Zhuang: va

References

• “花”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• “花”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.