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Chinese Radicals — Complete List with Characters & Meanings
Browse the most common Chinese radicals with pinyin, meanings, stroke counts and example characters. Learn how radicals organize the dictionary and help you remember characters.
293 groups · 267 with 2+ characters · 222 indexed
A radical (部首) is a recurring component used to organize Chinese characters in dictionaries. It often hints at meaning: 氵 points to water, 木 to wood, 讠 to speech. Learning the common radicals gives you a map of the character system and a shortcut for remembering new characters. Each radical below links to its character list.
Entries use the radical form as it appears inside a character. Variants show their standard Kangxi radical (氵 → 水, 亻 → 人, 扌 → 手); 阝 is 阜 on the left and 邑 on the right. A separate 214 Kangxi index and a character-component index are planned.
water (left-side form of 水)
mouth
grass (top form of 艸)
tree
hand (left-side form of 手)
person (left-side form of 人)
metal (left-side form of 金)
insect, worm
soil, earth
—
heart (left-side form of 心)
left-side form of 阜 fù (mound); right-side form of 邑 yì (city)
woman, girl
words, speech
bamboo (top form of 竹)
speech (left-side form of 言)
silk (left-side form of 糸)
gold, metal
walk (bottom form of 辵)
fire, flame
sickness, disease
silk
foot
sun
stone, rock, mineral
mountain, hill, peak
jade radical form (canonical 玉)
eye
heart
dog
fish
bird
clothing (left-side form of 衣)
bird
knife (right-side form of 刀)
roof
wine
cereal, grain, rice
sea shell
fish
sea shell
broad, vast, wide
horse
cloth, curtain, handkerchief, towel
rice, millet, grain
cart, vehicle
cart, vehicle
gate, door, entrance, opening
horse
big, great, vast, high, deep
field, farm, arable land
cave, den, hole
page, sheet, leaf
strength, power
food
altar/spirit (left-side form of 示)
food (left-side form of 食)
to step with the left foot
gate, door, entrance, opening
rain
body, corpse
enclosure
page, sheet, leaf
to strike (right-side form of 攴)
boat, ship
one
spear, lance, halberd
ox, cow, bull
ear
cloth
short-tailed bird
man, person
son, child
cliff
bow
corpse
to lack, to owe
fire (bottom form of 火)
dish, vessel
silk
ice
feather, plume
leather, animal hide
son, child
air, gas
net (top form of 网)
ten, tenth
hand
sheep, goat
to walk, to run, to flee
and, also, again, in addition
white
bone
long hair
slash
lid, cover
inch
plow
gold, metal
square, rectangle
ghost
black
tool, weapon
door
hair, fur, feathers
water, liquid, lotion, juice
teeth
two
cover
wrap
box
hair
to speak
moon
dog
tile
to stand
to see, to observe, to meet, to appear
to see, to observe, to meet, to appear
angle, corner
pig, boar
badger
wide
mortar
tiger
a catty (about 500 grams)
to stop, to halt
to go, to walk, to move
food
deer
teeth
number one
eight
seal
private, secret
scholar, gentleman
evening, night, dusk
arrow, dart
earthen crock or jar
bitter
knife
to go
small, tiny, insignificant
two hands
wind
wind
secret, hidden, mysterious
small table
snout
beans, peas
rat, mouse
kwukyel
container
box
altar
tongue
dot
weak, lame
labor, work
culture, literature, writing
claws, nails, talons
slice, splinter
melon, gourd, squash, cucumber
to use, to employ, to apply
skin, hide, fur, feathers
minister, statesman, official, vassal
body, torso
nature's color
second
the hours from 9 to 11
one
to catch, to arrest
snout
to struggle, to fight, to contend
to compare, liken
jade, gem, precious stone
life, lifetime
rump
west, western, westward
tanned leather
sound, tone, pitch, pronunciation
to struggle, to fight, to contend
dragon
hook
to enter, to come in
seal
to go slowly
stream, river
arid, dry
to walk, to go
father, dad
roll, bolt of cloth
meat
self
blood
red, scarlet
to distinguish
unit of distance equal to 0.5km
tanned leather
hemp, flax, sesame
spoon, ladle
divination, fortune-telling
—
—
self, oneself
mother
old variant of 水[shui3]
legs
old, aged
and, and then, and yet
writing brush, pencil
reach, arrive
color, tint, hue, shade
tiger
valley, gorge, ravine
not, negative, non-
earthen pot, iron cauldron
salt
wheat, barley, oats
frog, toad
drum
nose
even, uniform, of equal length
dragon
sprout
stream, river
—
diagrams for divination
sweet, tasty
spear, lance
—
old, aged
pen
mistaken
blunt
early morning
scallion, leek, chive
chief, head, leader
incense
wheat, barley, oats
broomcorn millet
embroidery, needlework
kwukyel
salt
to rap, to tap
to choke on something
not
clan, family
citizens, subjects
grass
claws, nails, talons
half of tree trunk
half of a tree trunk
tooth, molar
deep, profound, abstruse
the bleating of sheep
grass
area, district, city, state
subservient
face
sacrificial wine
yellow
frog, toad
large, three-legged bronze cauldron
even, uniform, of equal length
turtle, tortoise
flute