脐 meaning and stroke order
Navel; belly, underside
How to write 脐, 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 脐
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (bound form) the navel; the umbilicus
- (bound form) the belly flap of a crab; apron
How 脐 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Flesh.
⺼ gives the meaning and 齐 hints at the sound.
Radical: ⺼ (meat), shared by 176 characters on this site.
How to remember 脐
The flesh radical ⺼ on the left tells you this is a body part, and 齐 (qí) on the right gives the sound. Picture the navel sitting right in the middle of the belly, where everything lines up evenly, like 齐 meaning neat and even.
脐 is a bound form, so it almost always appears inside a word such as 肚脐 (dùqí, belly button) or 脐带 (qídài, umbilical cord). Example: 宝宝的脐带剪断了。(Bǎobao de qídài jiǎnduàn le.) The baby's umbilical cord has been cut.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes write the left side as 月 (moon) in meaning and forget it is the flesh radical ⺼, or they swap in 挤 (jǐ, to squeeze), which has the same right side but a hand radical and a different tone. Remember that 脐 is second tone qí, like 齐.
Common words with 脐
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 肚脐 | dùqí | navel | |
| 脐带 | qídài | umbilical cord |
脐 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 脐
How many strokes are in 脐?
脐 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 脐 mean?
脐 (qí) means navel; belly, underside. A common word with it is 肚脐 (dùqí), meaning "navel".
How do you pronounce 脐?
脐 is pronounced qí, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 脐?
The radical of 脐 is ⺼, which carries the idea of "meat". Dictionaries list 脐 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 脐?
The traditional form of 脐 is 臍. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 脐 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
How do you say belly button in everyday Chinese?
The everyday word is 肚脐 (dùqí), and people also say 肚脐眼 (dùqíyǎn) in casual speech. You would not use 脐 by itself in conversation.
What does 脐 mean when talking about crabs?
脐 also refers to the belly flap, or apron, on the underside of a crab. Chinese cooks use its shape to tell male and female crabs apart: 尖脐 (jiānqí, pointed apron) is male and 团脐 (tuánqí, round apron) is female.