粟 meaning and stroke order
Oats, millet, barley
How to write 粟, stroke by stroke
12 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 粟
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- millet
- (metonym) grain
How 粟 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A millet plant 米 bearing grain 覀.
Radical: 米 (rice), shared by 50 characters on this site.
How to remember 粟
Picture the grains of 米 (mǐ) at the bottom and the top part 覀 as the heavy head of grain on a millet plant. A millet plant bearing grain gives you 粟 (sù), millet.
粟 (sù) means millet, and in older or literary Chinese it can stand for grain in general. Today you see it most often in the word 罂粟 (yīngsù), opium poppy. Example: 田里种着罂粟。(Tián lǐ zhòngzhe yīngsù.) Poppies are growing in the field.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 粟 (sù) with 栗 (lì, chestnut), which has 木 at the bottom instead of 米. Remember that grain 米 means millet, and wood 木 means the chestnut tree.
Common words with 粟
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 罂粟 | yīngsù | opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) |
Questions about 粟
How many strokes are in 粟?
粟 is written with 12 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 粟 mean?
粟 (sù) means oats, millet, barley. A common word with it is 罂粟 (yīngsù), meaning "opium poppy (Papaver somniferum)".
How do you pronounce 粟?
粟 is pronounced sù, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 粟?
The radical of 粟 is 米, which carries the idea of "rice". Dictionaries list 粟 under this radical.
Is 粟 the everyday word for millet?
Not usually. In modern speech, millet is normally called 小米 (xiǎomǐ). 粟 appears more in written, historical, or agricultural contexts.
Why does 粟 also mean grain in general?
Millet was a staple crop in ancient China, so the word for it came to stand for grain as a whole. This sense shows up mainly in classical texts and set phrases.