门
door; gate
mén
What does 门 mean?
门 (mén) means 'door' or 'gate' — the opening you go through to enter or leave a room, building, or enclosed space. It covers everything from a bedroom door to a city gate. The traditional form 門 is a pictograph of a swinging double door, and the simplified 门 keeps that shape. Useful pairings: 开门 (kāi mén, 'open the door / open for business'), 关门 (guān mén, 'close the door / close for the day'), 出门 (chū mén, 'go out, leave home'). 门口 (ménkǒu) literally 'door-mouth,' means 'doorway' or 'entrance' — 在门口等 means 'wait at the entrance.' 门 also serves as a measure word in a separate use, counting subjects of study or types of skill: 一门课 (one course), 一门外语 (one foreign language). And it's a common surname suffix in compounds like 大门 (the main gate) and 后门 (the back door, also slang for 'connections / back channel').
Character breakdown
door; gate (pictograph of swinging double doors)
Memory hook: 门 looks like a pair of swinging double doors — that's exactly the original picture.
Measure word for 门
Example sentences
请关门。
Qǐng guān mén.
Please close the door.
spoken, polite
商店九点开门。
Shāngdiàn jiǔ diǎn kāi mén.
The shop opens at nine.
neutral
他在门口等你。
Tā zài ménkǒu děng nǐ.
He is waiting for you at the entrance.
spoken
今天太冷了，我不想出门。
Jīntiān tài lěng le, wǒ bù xiǎng chū mén.
It's too cold today; I don't want to go out.
spoken
学校的大门很大。
Xuéxiào de dà mén hěn dà.
The school's main gate is very big.
neutral
Common phrases with 门
Synonyms
门口 is the area at the doorway — the entrance. 门 is the door itself. 'Wait by the door' = 在门口等; 'open the door' = 开门.
大门 specifies the main/front gate of a building or compound. 门 is the general word for any door.
Don't confuse 门 with
们 (neutral tone) is the plural suffix for people: 我们 'we,' 你们 'you all,' 朋友们 'friends.' Looks similar (人 + 门) but never stands alone. 门 is 'door.'
问 ('ask') has 口 (mouth) inside the 门 frame — 'mouth at the door' = ask. 门 is just the door itself, no mouth.
间 ('between / room') has 日 (sun) inside 门 — 'sun between doors.' Used as a measure word for rooms (一间房 'one room'). 门 is the door; 间 is the space between them.