坳 meaning and stroke order
Cavity, depression, hollow; depressed; undulating
How to write 坳, 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
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Meaning of 坳
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- depression; cavity; hollow
- Taiwan pr. [ao1]
- variant of 坳[ao4]
How 坳 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Earth.
土 gives the meaning and 幼 hints at the sound.
Radical: 土 (soil), shared by 183 characters on this site.
How to remember 坳
坳 combines 土 (tǔ, earth) with 幼 (yòu, young, small). Picture a small, young dip in the earth, a little hollow in the ground. 幼 also hints at the sound, since 幼 and 坳 (ào) share a similar ending.
坳 is mostly a written or geographic word for a low spot in hilly land, such as a dip between mountains. It often appears in compounds and place names, like 山坳 (shān'ào, a col or mountain hollow). Example: 村子在山坳里。(Cūnzi zài shān'ào lǐ.) The village is in a hollow among the hills.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes confuse 坳 with 拗 (ǎo or niù, to bend or stubborn), which has the same 幼 part but the hand radical 扌 instead of 土. Remember that a hollow in the land needs the earth radical 土.
Questions about 坳
How many strokes are in 坳?
坳 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 坳 mean?
坳 (ào) means cavity, depression, hollow; depressed; undulating.
How do you pronounce 坳?
坳 is pronounced ào, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 坳?
The radical of 坳 is 土, which carries the idea of "soil". Dictionaries list 坳 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 坳?
The traditional form of 坳 is 㘭. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 坳 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 坳 pronounced ào or āo?
In mainland standard Mandarin it is ào with the fourth tone. In Taiwan it is commonly pronounced āo with the first tone.
What is the difference between 坳 and 凹 (āo)?
凹 is a general word for concave or sunken and is used for any surface, like a dent. 坳 is specifically about land, such as a hollow between hills.