腊 meaning and stroke order
December; year's end sacrifice; dried meat
How to write 腊, 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 腊
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- dried meat
- also pr. [xi2]
- ancient practice of offering sacrifices to the gods in the 12th lunar month
- the 12th lunar month
- (bound form) (of meat, fish etc) cured in winter, esp. in the 12th lunar month
- old variant of 臘|腊[la4]
How 腊 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A sacrifice of meat ⺼ for the past year 昔.
Radical: ⺼ (meat), shared by 176 characters on this site.
How to remember 腊
The left part ⺼ means meat, and the right part 昔 (xī) means the past. At the end of the year, people offered meat to honor the year gone by, so 腊 (là) is tied to year's end and cured meat.
腊 mostly appears in set words: 腊月 (làyuè) is the twelfth lunar month, and 腊肉 or 腊肠 (làcháng) are meats cured in winter. It also writes the sound là in 希腊 (Xīlà), Greece. Example: 腊月里家家都做腊肉。(Làyuè lǐ jiājiā dōu zuò làròu.) In the twelfth month, every family makes cured meat.
Common mistake: Learners mix up 腊 (là) with 借 (jiè, to borrow) and 惜 (xī, to cherish), which share the 昔 part. Check the left side: ⺼ for meat in 腊, 亻 for person in 借, 忄 for heart in 惜.
Common words with 腊
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 腊月 | làyuè | twelfth lunar month | HSK 7-9 |
| 腊肠 | làcháng | sausage | |
| 古希腊 | gǔXīlà | ancient Greece |
腊 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 腊
How many strokes are in 腊?
腊 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 腊 mean?
腊 (là) means December; year's end sacrifice; dried meat. A common word with it is 腊月 (làyuè), meaning "twelfth lunar month".
How do you pronounce 腊?
腊 is pronounced là, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 腊?
The radical of 腊 is ⺼, which carries the idea of "meat". Dictionaries list 腊 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 腊?
The traditional form of 腊 is 臈 and 臘. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 腊 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 腊 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 腊 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 腊月 the same as December?
Not exactly. 腊月 is the twelfth month of the lunar calendar, which usually falls around January to early February. It is the month right before Chinese New Year.
What is the 腊八 festival?
腊八 (Làbā) is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. People traditionally eat 腊八粥 (Làbā zhōu), a porridge made with grains, beans, and dried fruit.