The kanji character 侯 primarily represents "marquis," a noble title, or sometimes "lord" or "chief." It often implies nobility, authority, and status within a hierarchical structure, particularly in ancient Chinese society. It can also refer to a feudal lord or a person of high rank.

・On-yomi (音読み): こう (kō) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): None, or rarely used in modern Japanese as a standalone word.

⚫︎ 諸侯（しょこう） Translation: Various lords; feudal lords. ⚫︎ 侯爵（こうしゃく） Translation: Marquis (a title of nobility). ⚫︎ 建侯（けんこう） Translation: To be appointed as a marquis/lord; To establish a marquis.

The kanji 侯 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, keisei moji). The left part is a person radical (人, nin/hito), which is the component related to human being. The right part is 矢 (shi), which means "arrow," and the original meaning of 侯 is "to shoot arrow to hit the target." The character initially depicted a target or a mark for archery, then evolved to denote a person who was capable of shooting very well and being a skillful archer. This skill was a prestigious quality that was then later on associated with authority and nobility. Therefore, it was eventually used to indicate a person of high rank.