臘 meaning and stroke order
December; year's end sacrifice; dried meat
How to write 臘, stroke by stroke
19 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 臘
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- 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
How 臘 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Meat.
⺼ gives the meaning and 巤 hints at the sound.
Radical: ⺼ (meat), shared by 176 characters on this site.
How to remember 臘
臘 (là) puts the meat radical ⺼ on the left and the sound part 巤 on the right. Picture meat hanging up to dry in the cold twelfth month, ready for the year's end sacrifice.
Today 臘 is written 腊 in simplified Chinese. It appears mostly in set words about the twelfth lunar month and winter-cured foods, such as 腊月 (làyuè) and 腊肠 (làcháng). Example: 腊月里家家都做腊肉。(Làyuè lǐ jiājiā dōu zuò làròu.) In the twelfth month every family makes cured pork.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 臘 with 蠟 (là, wax), which has the same sound part but the insect radical 虫 instead of meat ⺼. Remember: food uses meat, candles use the insect that makes wax.
Common words with 臘
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 臘月 | làyuè | twelfth lunar month | HSK 7-9 |
| 臘腸 | làcháng | sausage | |
| 古希臘 | gǔXīlà | ancient Greece |
Questions about 臘
How many strokes are in 臘?
臘 is written with 19 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 臘 mean?
臘 (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 臘?
臘 is pronounced là, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 臘?
The radical of 臘 is ⺼, which carries the idea of "meat". Dictionaries list 臘 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 臘?
臘 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 腊, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Why does 腊 appear in the word for Greece?
In 希腊 (Xīlà), the character is used only for its sound to transliterate the name Hellas. It has nothing to do with cured meat or the twelfth month.
What is 腊八 (làbā)?
腊八 is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. People traditionally eat 腊八粥 (làbāzhōu), a sweet porridge made with grains, beans and dried fruit.