校 meaning and stroke order
School; military field officer
How to write 校, 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.
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Meaning of 校
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to check; to collate; to proofread
- (bound form) school; college
- (bound form) (military) field officer
How 校 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Wood.
木 gives the meaning and 交 hints at the sound.
Radical: 木 (tree), shared by 388 characters on this site.
How to remember 校
校 is a pictophonetic character: 木 (mù, wood) on the left gives the meaning area, and 交 (jiāo) on the right hints at the sound. Picture students gathering (交, to meet and exchange) under a wooden roof, and you have a school.
In the sense of school, 校 (xiào) is a bound form that appears inside words like 学校 (xuéxiào), 校长 (xiàozhǎng) and 校园 (xiàoyuán), not on its own. It also names military ranks such as 上校 (shàngxiào, colonel). Example: 我们的学校很大。(Wǒmen de xuéxiào hěn dà.) Our school is very big.
Common mistake: Learners often read every 校 as xiào, but in 校对 (jiàoduì, to proofread) it is pronounced jiào. Also do not confuse 校 with 较 (jiào, compare), which shares the 交 part but has 车 on the left.
Common words with 校
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 学校 | xuéxiào | school | HSK 1 |
| 校长 | xiàozhǎng | (college, university) president; headmaster | HSK 2 |
| 校园 | xiàoyuán | campus | HSK 2 |
| 夜校 | yèxiào | evening school; night school | HSK 7-9 |
| 上校 | shàngxiào | high ranking officer in Chinese army; colonel | |
| 校对 | jiàoduì | proofreader; to proofread | |
| 少校 | shàoxiào | junior ranking officer in Chinese army; major | |
| 中校 | zhōngxiào | middle ranking officer in Chinese army; lieutenant colonel | |
| 校友 | xiàoyǒu | schoolmate; alumnus | |
| 校服 | xiàofú | school uniform | |
| 校车 | xiàochē | school bus | |
| 校正 | jiàozhèng | to proofread and correct; to edit and rectify | |
| 高校 | gāoxiào | universities and colleges; abbr. for 高等學校|高等学校 | |
| 公立学校 | gōnglìxuéxiào | public school |
校 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 校
How many strokes are in 校?
校 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 校 mean?
校 (xiào) means school; military field officer. A common word with it is 学校 (xuéxiào), meaning "school".
How do you pronounce 校?
校 is pronounced xiào, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 校?
The radical of 校 is 木, which carries the idea of "tree". Dictionaries list 校 under this radical.
Is 校 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 校 is part of the HSK 1 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 2.
How do I know when 校 is read jiào instead of xiào?
Use jiào when the meaning is checking or correcting, as in 校对 (jiàoduì, to proofread). Use xiào for school and military officer words like 学校 and 少校.
Can I say 校 by itself to mean school?
Usually no. In everyday speech you say 学校 (xuéxiào). The single 校 appears in compounds or set phrases like 本校 (běn xiào, this school) and 全校 (quán xiào, the whole school).