古

gǔ = gu + Ø3

surname Gu

gǔ = gu + Ø3

ancient / old / paleo-

古 = 十 + 口 : Mnemonic symbol: at least on German maps, this character actually resembles a cloister.

Oh no! Gitta Giraffe (gu) found that the golden cross (十) broke off of the cloister (古) in the space station's living room (Ø3)! She skewers a mandarin (口) on top of the cloister so that she can skewer the broken off cross back on to fix it.

古 character breakdown

古
- 十
  - 一
  - 丨
- 口

十

shí = sh + Ø2

ten / 10

十 = 一 + 丨 : Mnemonic symbol: a holy cross. Sherlock Holmes (sh-) is investigating a very strange thing he found in the kitchen of the space station (-2): A big pyramid made of ten (十) crosses (十), which are in turn made out of flutes (一) and dinosaur bones (丨).

口

kǒu = k + ou3

mouth / classifier for things with mouths (people, domestic animals, cannons, wells etc) / classifier for bites or mouthfuls

Mnemonic symbol: 口 shall be represented by a mandarin. Karl Marx (k-) is enjoying a mandarin in the outhouse's living room (ou3).

Characters with 古 as component

轱

軲

gu̅ = gu + Ø1

wheel / to roll

酤

gu̅ = gu + Ø1

to deal in liquors

Words with 古

亘

亙

gèn

古

gǔ

throughout time / from ancient times (up to the present)

中

zho̅ng

古

gǔ

medieval / Middle Ages / Chinese middle antiquity, 3rd to 9th centuries, including Sui and Tang Dynasties / Middle (of a language, e.g. Middle English) / used / second-hand

中

zho̅ng

古

gǔ

Sino-Cuban / China-Cuba

上

shàng

古

gǔ

the distant past / ancient times / antiquity / early historical times

人

rén