TraceHanzi

桃 meaning and stroke order

táo

Peach

HSK 510 strokesRadical 木
Strokes10
Pinyintáo
ToneTone 2
Frequency#2,155
Printable worksheetPractice all HSK 5 characters

How to write 桃, 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. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10

Meaning of 桃

Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.

táosecond tone (rising)
  1. peach

How 桃 is built

Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Tree.

mùtree+zhàoomen

木 gives the meaning and 兆 hints at the sound.

Radical: 木 (tree), shared by 388 characters on this site.

How to remember 桃

桃 is a pictophonetic character: 木 (tree) on the left tells you it is a plant, and 兆 (zhào) on the right gives the sound. Picture a tree hung with a million (兆) peaches.

On its own 桃 is usually said as 桃子 (táozi) for the fruit, and it appears in many fruit and nut names like 樱桃 (yīngtáo) cherry and 核桃 (hétao) walnut. 桃花 (táohuā) means peach blossom but can also hint at romance. Example: 我想买几个桃子。(Wǒ xiǎng mǎi jǐ gè táozi.) I want to buy a few peaches.

Common mistake: Learners often mix up 桃 (táo) with 挑 (tiāo, to pick), which has the same 兆 part but the hand radical 扌 instead of 木. Also note that in 核桃 (hétao) the 桃 is usually said in the neutral tone.

Common words with 桃

Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.

WordPinyinMeaningLevel
桃花táohuāpeach blossom; (fig.) love affairHSK 5
桃树táoshùpeach treeHSK 5
核桃hétaowalnutHSK 7-9
樱桃yīngtáocherry
桃子táozipeach
胡桃hútáowalnut
黑桃hēitáospade ♠ (in card games)
世外桃源shìwàitáoyuánsee 桃花源[tao2 hua1 yuan2]
蜜桃mìtáohoney peach; juicy peach

桃 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

这zhè树shù年nián年nián都dōu结jié上shàng好hǎo的de桃táo儿ér。
This tree bears good peaches every year.
你nǐ想xiǎng拿ná多duō少shǎo桃táo子zi就jiù拿ná多duō少shǎo。
Take as many peaches as you like.
汤tāng姆mǔ没méi有yǒu吃chī桃táo子zi，他tā在zài吃chī李lǐ子zi。
Tom isn't eating a peach. He's eating a plum.
她tā的de口kǒu袋dài里lǐ塞sāi满mǎn了le核hé桃táo。
Her pockets were bulging with walnuts.
谁shuí吃chī了le最zuì后hòu一yī颗kē桃táo子zi？
Who ate the last peach?

Questions about 桃

How many strokes are in 桃?

桃 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 桃 mean?

桃 (táo) means peach. A common word with it is 桃花 (táohuā), meaning "peach blossom; (fig.) love affair".

How do you pronounce 桃?

桃 is pronounced táo, in the second tone (rising).

What is the radical of 桃?

The radical of 桃 is 木, which carries the idea of "tree". Dictionaries list 桃 under this radical.

Is 桃 on the HSK exam?

Yes. 桃 is part of the HSK 5 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.

Why does 桃花 sometimes mean a love affair?

Peach blossoms are linked with romance in Chinese culture, so 桃花 can refer to luck in love. People say 走桃花运 (zǒu táohuā yùn) to mean someone is having good luck with romance.

What does 世外桃源 (shìwàitáoyuán) mean?

It means a peaceful, idyllic place cut off from the troubles of the world, like a paradise. It is often used to describe a quiet village or retreat.

Keep going

勤Previous in HSK 5qín