客 is a Chinese character with 9 strokes, radical 宀 (roof), HSK 1 on the new exam.
Etymology
Oracle-bone origin
客 is a phono-semantic compound that appears from bronze script onward rather than in the earliest oracle bone corpus. It combines 宀 (roof, house) as the semantic element with 各 (originally a foot arriving at a place) as both phonetic and semantic hint, giving the idea of someone arriving at a house from outside.
Form evolution
Bronze forms show a clear roof over a recognisable 各, whose lower part 口 is the settlement and whose upper part is an inverted foot 夂 coming down toward it. Seal script regularises both elements, clerical script flattens the roof and squares the foot, and modern kaishu gives the standard 客 used in both traditional and simplified writing without further change.
How the meaning evolved
The original meaning was a person arriving from elsewhere and being received in a home, hence guest or visitor. From there it extended to traveller, sojourner, outsider, and in commercial contexts customer, as in 顾客 and 客户. It can also act as an adjective meaning not-native or objective, as in 客观 (objective).
Cultural note
The compound 客气 literally guest-air describes the polite ceremony used with visitors and now means being formally polite, so 不客气 (you are welcome, literally do not be guest-like) tells someone to drop the formality. Learners often under-use 客 in business contexts, where 客户 is the standard word for client or customer rather than 顾客.
Mnemonic
Each person under the roof — a guest
Decomposition
Breaking a character into its components makes it far easier to recall. Each component above links to its own detail page.
Basic info
| Stroke count | 9 strokes |
| Radical | 宀 (#40: roof) |
| New HSK exam | Recognise at HSK 1 |
| Frequency | #269 most common |
Example sentences
Words containing 客
Related characters
On the new HSK 1 exam
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Reviewed by RJ Murray, Founder, HSK Lord.