苞 meaning and stroke order
Bud, flower; rush, reed; to bloom
How to write 苞, stroke by stroke
8 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 苞
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- bud
- flower calyx
- luxuriant
- profuse
How 苞 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A flower 艹 unfolding 包; 包 also provides the pronunciation.
Radical: 艹 (grass), shared by 421 characters on this site.
How to remember 苞
The grass radical 艹 sits on top of 包 (bāo), which means to wrap. Picture a plant wrapping its petals tightly into a little package before it opens: that is a bud, 苞 (bāo), and 包 also gives the sound.
苞 mostly appears in compounds about flowers that have not opened yet, such as 花苞 (huābāo, flower bud) and 含苞待放 (hán bāo dài fàng, in bud and about to bloom). Example: 树上长满了花苞。(Shù shang zhǎng mǎn le huābāo.) The tree is covered in flower buds.
Common mistake: Learners often write 包 alone when they mean a flower bud, writing 花包 instead of 花苞. Remember that the plant meaning needs the grass radical 艹 on top.
Common words with 苞
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 花苞 | huābāo | flower bud |
Questions about 苞
How many strokes are in 苞?
苞 is written with 8 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 苞 mean?
苞 (bāo) means bud, flower; rush, reed; to bloom. A common word with it is 花苞 (huābāo), meaning "flower bud".
How do you pronounce 苞?
苞 is pronounced bāo, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 苞?
The radical of 苞 is 艹, which carries the idea of "grass". Dictionaries list 苞 under this radical.
What does 含苞待放 mean?
It is a four-character idiom meaning a flower is still in bud and about to open. It is also used poetically to describe a young girl on the verge of adulthood.
Is 苞 the same as 蕾 (lěi)?
Both relate to buds, and they combine in 苞蕾 or appear side by side in descriptions. In everyday speech, 花苞 and 花蕾 (huālěi) are both common ways to say flower bud, while 苞 by itself can also refer to the calyx or bract around a flower.