grass

Origin & mnemonic

The grass radical originates from an oracle-bone pictograph depicting three blades of grass sprouting from earth. The modern form with three horizontal strokes on top clearly represents the structure of grass rising from the ground.

Mnemonic: Three horizontal strokes on top resemble three grass blades sprouting from the base directly below them.

• 着zhe🔊

  variant of 著|着[zhe5]

  HSK 1

  11 strokes

• 菜cài🔊

  vegetable; greens (CL:棵[ke1])

  HSK 1

  11 strokes

• 萨sà🔊

  used in 菩薩|菩萨[pu2 sa4]

  11 strokes

• 莱lái🔊

  name of weed plant (fat hen, goosefoot, pigweed etc)

  11 strokes

• 菲fēi🔊

  luxuriant (plant growth)

  11 strokes

• 营yíng🔊

  camp

  11 strokes

• 萎wěi🔊

  to wither

  11 strokes

• 菇gū🔊

  (bound form) mushroom

  11 strokes

• 菌jūn🔊

  germ

  11 strokes

• 萝luó🔊

  radish

  11 strokes

• 萌méng🔊

  (bound form) to sprout; to bud

  11 strokes

• 萧xiāo🔊

  (old) Chinese mugwort

  11 strokes

• 菊jú🔊

  (bound form) chrysanthemum

  11 strokes

• 萸yú🔊

  used in 茱萸[zhu1 yu2]

  11 strokes

• 萍píng🔊

  duckweed

  11 strokes

• 菸yū🔊

  to wither

  11 strokes

• 䓖qióng🔊

  used in 芎藭|芎䓖[xiong1 qiong2]

  11 strokes

• 莹yíng🔊

  luster of gems

  11 strokes

• 莿cì🔊

  Urtica thunbergiana

  11 strokes

• 菀wǎn🔊

  used in 紫菀[zi3 wan3]

  11 strokes

• 菁jīng🔊

  leek flower

  11 strokes

• 菂dì🔊

  (literary) lotus seed

  11 strokes

• 菅jiān🔊

  (grass)

  11 strokes

• 菆zōu🔊

  arrow

  11 strokes

• 菉lù🔊

  Arthraxon ciliare

  11 strokes

• 菎kūn🔊

  beautiful jade

  11 strokes

• 菏Hé🔊

  He river in Shandong

  11 strokes

• 菑zī🔊

  (archaic) field recently opened for cultivation

  11 strokes

• 菓guǒ🔊

  fruit (old variant of 果[guo3])

  11 strokes

• 菔fú🔊

  turnip

  11 strokes

• 菖chāng🔊

  see 菖蒲[chang1 pu2]

  11 strokes

• 菘sōng🔊

  (cabbage)

  11 strokes

• 菝bá🔊

  used in 菝葜[ba2 qia1]

  11 strokes

• 菟tù🔊

  dodder (Cuscuta sinensis, a parasitic vine with seeds having medicinal uses)

  11 strokes

• 菠bō🔊

  spinach

  11 strokes

• 菡hàn🔊

  lotus blossom

  11 strokes

• 菢bào🔊

  hatch

  11 strokes

• 菣qìn🔊

  Artemisia apiacea

  11 strokes

• 菥xī🔊

  used in 菥蓂[xi1 mi4]

  11 strokes

• 菧dǐ🔊

  stibene

  11 strokes

• 菩pú🔊

  used in 菩薩|菩萨[pu2 sa4]

  11 strokes

• 菪dàng🔊

  henbane

  11 strokes

• 菫jǐn🔊

  variant of 堇[jin3]

  11 strokes

• 菰gū🔊

  Manchurian wild rice (Zizania latifolia), now rare in the wild, formerly harvested for its grain, now mainly cultivated for its edible stem known as 茭白筍|茭白笋[jiao1 bai2 sun3], which is swollen by a smut fungus

  11 strokes

• 菱líng🔊

  variant of 菱[ling2]

  11 strokes

• 菶běng🔊

  expand

  11 strokes

• 菷zhǒu🔊

  variant of 帚[zhou3]

  11 strokes

• 菹zū🔊

  marshland

  11 strokes