花甲

花甲

Chinese

		intricate; complicated	1st heavenly stem; armor; shell
trad. (花甲)		花	甲
simp. #(花甲)		花	甲

Etymology

Named for the complicated pairings of the heavenly stems and the earthly branches in the names of the sixty years in the cycle.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): huājiǎ

  (Zhuyin): ㄏㄨㄚ ㄐㄧㄚˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): faa¹ gaap³
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): fâ-kap
• Min Nan (POJ): hoa-kah / hoe-kah

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: huājiǎ
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄨㄚ ㄐㄧㄚˇ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: huajea
    • IPA ^(key): /xu̯a̠⁵⁵ t͡ɕi̯a̠²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: faa¹ gaap³
    • Yale: fā gaap
    • Cantonese Pinyin: faa¹ gaap⁸
    • Guangdong Romanization: fa¹ gab³
    • IPA ^(key): /faː⁵⁵ kaːp̚³/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: fâ-kap
    • Hakka Romanization System: fa´ gab`
    • Hagfa Pinyim: fa¹ gab⁵
    • IPA: /fa²⁴ kap̚²/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, mainstream Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hoa-kah
    • Tâi-lô: hua-kah
    • Phofsit Daibuun: hoa'kaq
    • IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /hua⁴⁴⁻³³ kaʔ³²/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /hua³³ kaʔ⁵/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /hua⁴⁴⁻²² kaʔ³²/
  • (Hokkien: variant in Taiwan)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hoe-kah
    • Tâi-lô: hue-kah
    • Phofsit Daibuun: hoe'kaq
    • IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /hue⁴⁴⁻³³ kaʔ³²/

Noun

花甲

1. complete sexagenary cycle of the Chinese calendar
2. sixty years of age
3. Alternative name for 花蛤 (huāgé).

Synonyms

• 甲子 (jiǎzǐ)

Derived terms

年近花甲

花甲之年

See also

• 干支 (gānzhī)