竈 meaning and stroke order
Furnace; kitchen stove
How to write 竈, stroke by stroke
21 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 竈
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- variant of 灶[zao4]
How 竈 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Hole.
穴 gives the meaning.
Radical: 穴 (cave), shared by 46 characters on this site.
How to remember 竈
Picture a hole 穴 (xué) dug over a mound of earth 土 (tǔ), with a frog-like creature 黽 crouching inside: an old earthen stove is a hollow where the fire sits. The 穴 on top tells you the meaning is about an opening or cavity.
竈 is a variant form of 灶 (zào), and in everyday modern writing people use 灶 instead. You will mostly meet 竈 in older texts, classical literature, or some traditional-character contexts, in words like 竈台 (zàotái, stove top). Example: 廚房裡有一個老竈。(Chúfáng lǐ yǒu yí gè lǎo zào.) There is an old stove in the kitchen.
Common mistake: Learners often try to write 竈 in modern simplified text, but the normal form today is 灶, built from 火 (fire) and 土 (earth). Also keep the fourth tone zào, and do not confuse it with 造 (zào, to make), which sounds the same but has a different meaning.
Questions about 竈
How many strokes are in 竈?
竈 is written with 21 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 竈 mean?
竈 (zào) means furnace; kitchen stove.
How do you pronounce 竈?
竈 is pronounced zào, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 竈?
The radical of 竈 is 穴, which carries the idea of "cave". Dictionaries list 竈 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 竈?
竈 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 灶, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Should I learn 竈 or 灶 first?
Learn 灶 first, since it is the standard form in mainland China and is common in Taiwan too. Treat 竈 as a reading character you should recognize in older or formal traditional texts.
What is 灶神 or 竈神?
It is the Kitchen God, a folk deity who watches over the household from the stove. Traditionally families send him off before the Lunar New Year, around the 23rd or 24th day of the twelfth lunar month.