呦 meaning and stroke order
The sound of a deer bleating
How to write 呦, 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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- 8
Meaning of 呦
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- Oh! (exclamation of dismay etc)
- used in 呦呦[you1 you1]
How 呦 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Mouth.
口 gives the meaning and 幼 hints at the sound.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 呦
A mouth 口 next to 幼 (yòu, young) gives the small cry a young deer makes with its mouth. 口 tells you it is a sound, and 幼 hints at the pronunciation yōu.
呦 is mostly used as an exclamation of surprise or dismay, much like "oh" or "whoa" in English. It also appears doubled as 呦呦 (yōuyōu), a literary word for the bleating of deer. Example: 呦，你怎么来了？(Yōu, nǐ zěnme lái le?) Oh, what are you doing here?
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 呦 with 哟 (yō or yo), another interjection with a similar sound but a different right side. Also remember 呦 takes the first tone yōu, while its phonetic part 幼 is fourth tone yòu.
呦 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 呦
How many strokes are in 呦?
呦 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 呦 mean?
呦 (yōu) means the sound of a deer bleating.
How do you pronounce 呦?
呦 is pronounced yōu, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 呦?
The radical of 呦 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 呦 under this radical.
What does 呦呦 mean?
呦呦 (yōuyōu) imitates the call of a deer. It is famous from the classical line 呦呦鹿鸣 (yōuyōu lù míng), "the deer call out yōu yōu," from the Book of Songs. The name of the Nobel laureate Tu Youyou, 屠呦呦, comes from this line.
Is 呦 used in everyday speech?
Yes, as a casual spoken exclamation of surprise or mild dismay, often at the start of a sentence. In writing it feels informal, so it shows up mostly in dialogue, chats, and comics.