戮 meaning and stroke order
To kill, to massacre; to oppress
How to write 戮, stroke by stroke
15 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 戮
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to peel with a knife
- old variant of 戮[lu4]
- (bound form) to kill
- variant of 勠[lu4]
How 戮 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Spear.
戈 gives the meaning and 翏 hints at the sound.
Radical: 戈 (spear), shared by 34 characters on this site.
How to remember 戮
The left part 翏 (liù) gives the sound, and the right part 戈 (gē) is a spear or dagger-axe. Picture a spear swinging in battle to remember that 戮 (lù) means to kill or massacre.
戮 is a bound form, so it almost always appears inside fixed words rather than alone. The most common word is 杀戮 (shālù), used in news, history and literature for mass killing. Example: 战争带来了无数杀戮。(Zhànzhēng dài lái le wúshù shālù.) The war brought countless killings.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 戮 (lù) with 戳 (chuō, to poke), since both have 戈 on the right and a busy left side. Check the left part: 戮 has 翏 with two 习-like shapes on top, while 戳 has 翟.
Common words with 戮
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 杀戮 | shālù | to massacre; to slaughter |
Questions about 戮
How many strokes are in 戮?
戮 is written with 15 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 戮 mean?
戮 (lù) means to kill, to massacre; to oppress. A common word with it is 杀戮 (shālù), meaning "to massacre; to slaughter".
How do you pronounce 戮?
戮 is pronounced lù, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 戮?
The radical of 戮 is 戈, which carries the idea of "spear". Dictionaries list 戮 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 戮?
The traditional form of 戮 is 剹. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 戮 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 戮 used in everyday conversation?
Not much. It is a formal, literary character found in words like 杀戮 (shālù) and the idiom 戮力同心 (lùlì tóngxīn, to unite in effort). In casual speech people simply say 杀 (shā).
Why does 戮力同心 mean working together if 戮 means to kill?
In 戮力, 戮 is used as a variant of 勠 (lù), meaning to join forces. So 戮力同心 means to work together with one heart, with no sense of killing.