侨 meaning and stroke order
Emigrant; to sojourn
How to write 侨, stroke by stroke
8 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
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- 5
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- 8
Meaning of 侨
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- emigrant
- to reside abroad
How 侨 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Person.
亻 gives the meaning and 乔 hints at the sound.
Radical: 亻 (man), shared by 277 characters on this site.
How to remember 侨
侨 combines the person radical 亻 with 乔 (qiáo), which gives the sound. Picture a person 亻 who has traveled far from home and now lives abroad.
侨 appears mostly in compound words about people living outside their home country, such as 华侨 (huáqiáo, overseas Chinese) and 侨胞 (qiáobāo, compatriots living abroad). Example: 他爷爷是一位老华侨。 (Tā yéye shì yī wèi lǎo huáqiáo.) His grandfather is an elderly overseas Chinese.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 侨 with 桥 (qiáo, bridge), which has the same sound and the same phonetic part 乔. Remember that 侨 has the person radical 亻 because it is about people, while 桥 has the wood radical 木 because bridges were built of wood.
Common words with 侨
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 华侨 | huáqiáo | overseas Chinese; (in a restricted sense) Chinese emigrant who still retains Chinese natio | HSK 7-9 |
Questions about 侨
How many strokes are in 侨?
侨 is written with 8 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 侨 mean?
侨 (qiáo) means emigrant; to sojourn. A common word with it is 华侨 (huáqiáo), meaning "overseas Chinese; (in a restricted sense) Chinese emigrant who still retains Chinese natio".
How do you pronounce 侨?
侨 is pronounced qiáo, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 侨?
The radical of 侨 is 亻, which carries the idea of "man". Dictionaries list 侨 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 侨?
The traditional form of 侨 is 僑. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 侨 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 侨 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 侨 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 华侨 and 华人?
华侨 (huáqiáo) usually means Chinese people living abroad who still hold Chinese nationality. 华人 (huárén) is broader and includes ethnic Chinese who are citizens of other countries.
Can 侨 be used alone as a word?
In modern Chinese 侨 is rarely used alone. It almost always appears inside compounds like 侨民 (qiáomín, emigrants or nationals living abroad) or 侨居 (qiáojū, to live abroad).