幣 meaning and stroke order
Currency, coins, legal tender
How to write 幣, stroke by stroke
14 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 幣
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- money
- coins
- currency
- silk
How 幣 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Cloth.
巾 gives the meaning and 敝 hints at the sound.
Radical: 巾 (cloth), shared by 53 characters on this site.
How to remember 幣
幣 is built from 敝 (bì) on top, which gives the sound, and 巾 (jīn, cloth) below, which gives the meaning. Picture a strip of cloth or silk being handed over as payment, since silk was one of the senses of this character.
幣 almost always appears inside compound words for money, such as 貨幣 (huòbì, currency), 硬幣 (yìngbì, coin) and 外幣 (wàibì, foreign currency). Example: 你有硬幣嗎？(Nǐ yǒu yìngbì ma?) Do you have any coins?
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 幣 with 弊 (bì, fraud or disadvantage), which shares the same top part 敝 and the same sound but has 廾 at the bottom instead of 巾. Remember that money comes with 巾 (cloth), while 弊 appears in words like 作弊 (zuòbì, to cheat).
Common words with 幣
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
Questions about 幣
How many strokes are in 幣?
幣 is written with 14 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 幣 mean?
幣 (bì) means currency, coins, legal tender. A common word with it is 人民币 (rénmínbì), meaning "Renminbi, the official currency of the PRC (currency codes: RMB or CNY)".
How do you pronounce 幣?
幣 is pronounced bì, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 幣?
The radical of 幣 is 巾, which carries the idea of "cloth". Dictionaries list 幣 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 幣?
幣 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 币, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Why does 人民币 look different from 幣?
人民币 (rénmínbì) is written with the simplified form 币, used in mainland China. 幣 is the same character and is used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, for example in 新臺幣 (xīn táibì, New Taiwan dollar).
What is the difference between 錢 and 幣?
錢 (qián) is the everyday word for money and can stand alone, as in 多少錢 (duōshao qián, how much). 幣 usually does not stand alone and appears in more formal or specific compounds like 貨幣 (huòbì) or 紙幣 (zhǐbì, paper money).