蠍 meaning and stroke order
Scorpion
How to write 蠍, 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 蠍
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (bound form) scorpion
How 蠍 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character.
虫 gives the meaning and 歇 hints at the sound.
Radical: 虫 (insect), shared by 197 characters on this site.
How to remember 蠍
The left side 虫 (chóng) marks a creature or bug, and the right side 歇 (xiē, to rest) gives the sound. Picture a scorpion resting under a rock, waiting to strike.
蠍 is a bound form, so it usually appears inside words like 蝎子 (xiēzi) for scorpion or 天蝎座 (Tiānxiē zuò) for Scorpio. Note that the common words are often written with the simpler variant 蝎. Example: 沙漠里有很多蝎子。(Shāmò lǐ yǒu hěn duō xiēzi.) There are many scorpions in the desert.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes read it as xiè or xié because of similar characters. It takes the first tone, xiē, the same as its sound component 歇. Also do not confuse 歇 with 喝 (hē), which shares the 曷 part.
Common words with 蠍
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 蠍子 | xiēzi | scorpion | |
| 天蠍 | tiānxiē | Scorpio (constellation) |
Questions about 蠍
How many strokes are in 蠍?
蠍 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 蠍 mean?
蠍 (xiē) means scorpion. A common word with it is 蝎子 (xiēzi), meaning "scorpion".
How do you pronounce 蠍?
蠍 is pronounced xiē, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 蠍?
The radical of 蠍 is 虫, which carries the idea of "insect". Dictionaries list 蠍 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 蠍?
蠍 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 蝎, used in mainland China and Singapore.
What is the difference between 蠍 and 蝎?
They are variant forms used for the same word, scorpion. 蝎 is the standard form in mainland China, while 蠍 is the form you will often see in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Can I say 蠍 alone to mean scorpion?
Not usually. In everyday speech people say 蝎子 (xiēzi), and the single character mostly appears inside compounds such as 天蝎 (tiānxiē).