懂中文 Dong Chinese

乾

gān, gàn, qián

dry

倝 is used to represent the sound. 乙 is a distinguishing stroke.

Components
倝 sound component

倝  Sound component

gàn

  

sunrise

乙 unknown component

乙  Unknown component

yǐ, zhé

  

second

Evolution

乾 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
乾 Clerical script Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
乾 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

干 (乾) 

gān

dry; first hexagram; warming principle of the sun, penetrating and fertilizing, heavenly generative principle (male); clean; in vain; dried food; foster; adoptive; to ignore

干 (乾) 

Gān

surname Gan

乾  

Qián

surname Qian

乾  

qián

one of the Eight Trigrams 八卦[bā​guà], symbolizing heaven; male principle; ☰; ancient Chinese compass point: 315° (northwest)

乾 (乹) 

qián

old variant of 乾[qián]

乾 (亁) 

qián

variant of 乾[qián]

Most common words with 乾
Freq.
Word
Meaning

乾

☰

乾坤

yin and yang

乾隆

Qianlong Emperor (1711-1799), sixth Qing emperor, princely title 寶親王|宝亲王[Bǎo​Qīn​wáng], personal name 弘曆|弘历[Hóng​lì], reigned 1735-1799

扭转乾坤

to turn things around

乾陵

Qianling at Xianyang 咸陽市|咸阳市 in Shaanxi, burial site of third Tang emperor 高宗 and empress Wuzetian 武則天|武则天