Example sentences
jīn今tiān天jǐ几hào号？
What's the date today?
nǐ你zhù住jǐ几hào号fáng房？
What room number are you in?
The story behind the character
号
号 is a mouth (口) over 丂, and Xu Shen defined it as 痛聲也, the sound of pain. The traditional 號 put a tiger (虎) beside it: 號, 呼也, a shout, the way a tiger roars. That older 号 was the simple original, abandoned for centuries while 號 did the work, and simplification brought it back. From shouting came the name you are called by, and then a number.