woman

Origin & mnemonic

This radical originates from a pictograph in oracle-bone and seal scripts, depicting the form of a woman with arms crossed or raised in prayer. Over time, this image was simplified into the three distinctive curved strokes we see today.

Mnemonic: Three curved strokes hugged together like the silhouette of a woman's body — easy to remember as "woman."

• 妓jì🔊

  prostitute

  7 strokes

• 妞niū🔊

  girl

  7 strokes

• 妖yāo🔊

  goblin

  7 strokes

• 妙miào🔊

  clever

  HSK 6

  7 strokes

• 妆zhuāng🔊

  variant of 妝|妆[zhuang1]

  7 strokes

• 姊zǐ🔊

  old variant of 姊[zi3]

  7 strokes

• 妥tuǒ🔊

  suitable

  HSK 7

  7 strokes

• 妍yán🔊

  beautiful

  7 strokes

• 妉dān🔊

  old variant of 媅[dan1]

  7 strokes

• 妊rèn🔊

  pregnant

  7 strokes

• 妏wèn🔊

  (used in female names)

  7 strokes

• 妒dù🔊

  to envy (success, talent)

  7 strokes

• 妗jìn🔊

  wife of mother's brother

  7 strokes

• 妘Yún🔊

  surname Yun

  7 strokes

• 妚pēi🔊

  variant of 胚[pei1]

  7 strokes

• 妣bǐ🔊

  deceased mother

  7 strokes

• 妤yú🔊

  used in 婕妤[jie2 yu2]

  7 strokes

• 妨fáng🔊

  to hinder

  7 strokes

• 妩wǔ🔊

  used in 嫵媚|妩媚[wu3 mei4]

  7 strokes

• 妪yù🔊

  old woman

  7 strokes

• 妫Guī🔊

  surname Gui

  7 strokes

• 姒sì🔊

  wife or senior concubine of husbands older brother (old)

  7 strokes

• 妮nī🔊

  girl

  8 strokes

• 姓xìng🔊

  family name; surname

  HSK 2

  8 strokes

• 姆mǔ🔊

  (old) female tutor

  8 strokes

• 姐jiě🔊

  older sister

  HSK 1

  8 strokes

• 妹mèi🔊

  younger sister

  HSK 1

  8 strokes

• 委wěi🔊

  to entrust

  8 strokes

• 妻qī🔊

  (bound form) wife

  8 strokes

• 始shǐ🔊

  to begin

  8 strokes

• 妲Dá🔊

  female personal name (archaic)

  8 strokes

• 妾qiè🔊

  concubine

  8 strokes

• 㚻jī🔊

  used in 㚻姦|㚻奸[ji1 jian1]

  8 strokes

• 㛀chú🔊

  pregnant woman (archaic)

  8 strokes

• 妭bá🔊

  (literary) beautiful woman

  8 strokes

• 妯zhóu🔊

  used in 妯娌[zhou2 li5]

  8 strokes

• 妵tǒu🔊

  (feminine name)

  8 strokes

• 妸ē🔊

  (used in female given names)

  8 strokes

• 妺mò🔊

  wife of the last ruler of the Xia dynasty

  8 strokes

• 妽shēn🔊

  (used in female names)

  8 strokes

• 姁xǔ🔊

  chatter like old woman

  8 strokes

• 姄mín🔊

  (used in female given names) (old)

  8 strokes

• 姅bàn🔊

  menstruation

  8 strokes

• 姈líng🔊

  (literary) (of a woman) intelligent

  8 strokes

• 姗shān🔊

  used in 姍姍|姗姗[shan1 shan1]

  8 strokes

• 姑gū🔊

  paternal aunt

  8 strokes

• 娜nà🔊

  (phonetic na)

  9 strokes

• 娅yà🔊

  (literary) term of address between husbands of sisters

  9 strokes