U+53EF "可" CJK Unified Ideograph-# Unicode Character

Unicode Version 17.0

U+53EF "可" CJK Unified Ideograph-# is a versatile Chinese character commonly used in written Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Its fundamental meaning centers on expressing capability, permission, or approval, translating most frequently to "can," "may," or "possible," as in the word 可以 (kěyǐ). The character is composed of two primary components: the radical 口 (kǒu, meaning "mouth") on the right, which often relates to speech or breath, and a modified form of 丁 (dīng) on the left, which historically contributed to its phonetic sound. Beyond its basic sense of ability, "可" is also employed to convey worthiness or suitability, appearing in common terms like 可爱 (kě'ài) meaning "lovable" or "cute." Its structure and semantics have remained remarkably stable through millennia of Chinese script evolution, and it is classified as a Kangxi radical number 30.

General Properties

Code Point U+53EF
Version Added 1.1
Name CJK Unified Ideograph-#
Block CJK Unified Ideographs
General Category Other Letter
Canonical Combining Class Not Reordered
Bidirectional Class Left To Right

Encodings

HTML Decimal Encoding 可
HTML Hex Encoding 可
UTF-8 Encoding 0xE5 0x8F 0xAF
UTF-16 Encoding 0x53EF
UTF-32 Encoding 0x000053EF
C/C++/Java Escape \u53ef

Unicode Properties

NFC Quick Check Yes
NFD Quick Check Yes
NFKC Quick Check Yes
NFKD Quick Check Yes
Numeric Type None
Numeric Value NaN
Line Break Ideographic
East Asian Width Wide
Script Han
Script Extensions Han
Indic Syllabic Category Other
ID Start Yes
XID Start Yes
ID Continue Yes
XID Continue Yes
Alphabetic Yes
Vertical Orientation Upright
Grapheme Base Yes
Grapheme Cluster Break Other
Word Break Other
Sentence Break OLetter
Ideographic Yes
Unified Ideograph Yes

Unihan Properties

kBigFive A569
kCCCII 213530
kCNS1986 1-462B
kCNS1992 1-462B
kCangjie MNR
kCantonese ho2
kCihaiT 244.102
kCowles 1117
kDaeJaweon 0383.070
kDefinition may, can, -able; possibly
kEACC 213530
kFanqie 枯我
kFenn 699A
kFennIndex 253.10 254.01
kFourCornerCode 1062.0
kGB0 3141
kGB1 3141
kGradeLevel 1
kGSR 0001a
kHangul 가:0E
kHanYu 10567.070
kHanyuPinlu kě(6054)
kHanyuPinyin 10567.070:kě,gē,kè
kHKGlyph 0475
kIICore AGTJHKMP
kIRGDaeJaweon 0383.070
kIRGHanyuDaZidian 10567.070
kIRGKangXi 0172.120
kIRG_GSource G0-3F49
kIRG_HSource HB1-A569
kIRG_JSource J0-3244
kIRG_KPSource KP0-CDA6
kIRG_KSource K0-4A26
kIRG_TSource T1-462B
kIRG_VSource V1-4E3C
kJapanese カ コク べし よい
kJoyoKanji 2010
kKoreanEducationHanja 2007
kTGH 2013:212
kJapaneseKun YOI BESHI BAKARI
kJapaneseOn KA KOKU
kJis0 1836
kKangXi 0172.120
kKarlgren 414
kKorean KA KUK
kLau 1202
kMainlandTelegraph 0668
kMandarin
kMatthews 3381
kMeyerWempe 753
kMojiJoho MJ008037
kMorohashi 03245
kNelson 0024
kPhonetic 487
kRSAdobe_Japan1_6 C+1348+30.3.2
kRSUnicode 30.2
kSBGY 304.54
kSMSZD2003Index 88.05
kSMSZD2003Readings kě粵ho2 kè粵hak1
kTaiwanTelegraph 0668
kTang *kɑ̌
kTGHZ2013 195.190:kě 196.050:kè
kTotalStrokes 5
kUnihanCore2020 GHJKMPT
kVietnamese khả
kXerox 241:067
kXHC1983 0640.020:kě 0643.020:kè