栗 meaning and stroke order
Chestnut tree; chestnuts; surname
How to write 栗, stroke by stroke
10 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
- 9
- 10
Meaning of 栗
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (literary) cold; chilly
- (bound form) to tremble with fear
- chestnut
How 栗 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A tree 木 bearing nuts 覀; compare 果.
Radical: 木 (tree), shared by 388 characters on this site.
How to remember 栗
Picture a tree 木 (mù) with a spiky nut cluster 覀 sitting on top. That is the chestnut tree, heavy with its prickly fruit.
In everyday speech 栗 almost always appears in words like 栗子 (lìzi, chestnut) or 花栗鼠 (huālìshǔ, chipmunk). In written or literary Chinese it can also mean to tremble with fear or cold. Example: 冬天我喜欢吃糖炒栗子。(Dōngtiān wǒ xǐhuan chī táng chǎo lìzi.) In winter I like eating sugar-roasted chestnuts.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 栗 with 粟 (sù, millet), which has 米 at the bottom instead of 木. Remember that a chestnut grows on a tree 木, while millet is a grain 米.
Common words with 栗
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 栗子 | lìzi | chestnut | |
| 花栗鼠 | huālìshǔ | chipmunk (genus Tamias) |
栗 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 栗
How many strokes are in 栗?
栗 is written with 10 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 栗 mean?
栗 (lì) means chestnut tree; chestnuts; surname. A common word with it is 栗子 (lìzi), meaning "chestnut".
How do you pronounce 栗?
栗 is pronounced lì, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 栗?
The radical of 栗 is 木, which carries the idea of "tree". Dictionaries list 栗 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 栗?
The traditional form of 栗 is 慄. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 栗 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
How do you say roasted chestnuts in Chinese?
The classic street snack is 糖炒栗子 (táng chǎo lìzi), chestnuts stir-roasted with sugar and sand. You will often see it sold in winter in northern China.
Why does 栗 also mean trembling?
In literary Chinese 栗 is used for shivering from cold or fear, as in 不寒而栗 (bù hán ér lì), to shudder without being cold. This sense is also written 慄 in traditional characters.