皑 meaning and stroke order
Brilliant white; as white as snow
How to write 皑, stroke by stroke
11 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 皑
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (literary) white as snow
How 皑 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. White.
白 gives the meaning and 岂 hints at the sound.
Radical: 白 (white), shared by 21 characters on this site.
How to remember 皑
The left side 白 (bái) means white, and the right side 岂 (qǐ) gives a hint of the sound. Picture a white 白 snowfield beside a mountain 山 shape at the top of 岂, glowing bright white.
皑 is literary and almost always appears in the set phrase 白雪皑皑 (bái xuě ái ái), describing a vast, pure white snowy landscape. You will meet it in essays, poems and travel writing, not in casual talk. Example: 山上白雪皑皑。(Shān shàng bái xuě ái ái.) The mountains are covered in brilliant white snow.
Common mistake: Learners often read 皑 as qǐ because of the phonetic part 岂, but the correct reading is ái with a second tone. Also do not confuse it with 凯 (kǎi, triumphant), which shares 岂 but has 几 on the right instead of 白 on the left.
皑 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 皑
How many strokes are in 皑?
皑 is written with 11 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 皑 mean?
皑 (ái) means brilliant white; as white as snow.
How do you pronounce 皑?
皑 is pronounced ái, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 皑?
The radical of 皑 is 白, which carries the idea of "white". Dictionaries list 皑 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 皑?
The traditional form of 皑 is 皚. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 皑 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Can I use 皑 on its own to say something is white?
Not really. In modern Chinese it is used almost only in the reduplicated form 皑皑, usually in 白雪皑皑. For everyday white, just say 白 (bái) or 白色 (báisè).
Is 皑 only used for snow?
Mostly yes. 皑皑 typically describes snow or frost, and occasionally other things that are vast and white like snow, but snow is by far the most common pairing.