蚤 meaning and stroke order
Flea; louse
How to write 蚤, stroke by stroke
9 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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- 9
Meaning of 蚤
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- flea
How 蚤 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Insect.
虫 gives the meaning and 叉 hints at the sound.
Radical: 虫 (insect), shared by 197 characters on this site.
How to remember 蚤
The top of 蚤 (zǎo) looks like 叉, a fork or claws, sitting on 虫 (chóng), insect. Picture a tiny insect with grabbing claws that clings to a dog's fur: a flea.
蚤 almost never appears alone in modern speech. People say 跳蚤 (tiàozao), literally a jumping bug. Example: 狗身上有跳蚤。(Gǒu shēn shang yǒu tiàozao.) The dog has fleas.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 蚤 with 骚 (sāo) or 搔 (sāo), which share the same top part but have different meanings and tones. Also note that in 跳蚤 the second syllable is usually read in the neutral tone, tiàozao, not with a full third tone.
Common words with 蚤
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 跳蚤 | tiàozao | flea |
蚤 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 蚤
Learning 蚤 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 蚤
How many strokes are in 蚤?
蚤 is written with 9 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 蚤 mean?
蚤 (zǎo) means flea; louse. A common word with it is 跳蚤 (tiàozao), meaning "flea".
How do you pronounce 蚤?
蚤 is pronounced zǎo, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 蚤?
The radical of 蚤 is 虫, which carries the idea of "insect". Dictionaries list 蚤 under this radical.
What is a flea market called in Chinese?
A flea market is 跳蚤市场 (tiàozao shìchǎng). It is a direct translation of the English term and is widely understood.
Why does the top of 蚤 look like 叉?
In this character 叉 serves as the sound component, while 虫 below shows the meaning of insect. The sound has drifted over time, so 叉 (chā) no longer matches zǎo closely.