貍 meaning and stroke order
Fox, wildcat
How to write 貍, stroke by stroke
14 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 貍
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- variant of 狸[li2]
How 貍 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Animal.
豸 gives the meaning and 里 hints at the sound.
Radical: 豸 (badger), shared by 14 characters on this site.
How to remember 貍
The left part 豸 is the animal radical, a crouching beast ready to pounce. The right part 里 (lǐ) gives the sound, so think of a wild cat prowling around the village (里) at night.
貍 is an old variant of 狸 (lí), and modern texts almost always use 狸 instead. You may still see 貍 in classical writing, older books, or names. The common word is 狐狸 (húli), which uses the 狸 form: 那只狐狸很聪明 (nà zhī húli hěn cōngming), That fox is very clever.
Common mistake: Learners often write 貍 when standard modern Chinese expects 狸, which uses the dog radical 犭 on the left. Also note that in 狐狸 (húli) the second syllable is usually read in the neutral tone, not a full second tone lí.
Characters that contain 貍
Learning 貍 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 貍
How many strokes are in 貍?
貍 is written with 14 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 貍 mean?
貍 (lí) means fox, wildcat.
How do you pronounce 貍?
貍 is pronounced lí, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 貍?
The radical of 貍 is 豸, which carries the idea of "badger". Dictionaries list 貍 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 貍?
貍 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 狸, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Does 貍 mean fox or cat?
On its own, 貍 (or 狸) refers to a wildcat or similar small wild animal, such as the leopard cat 狸猫 (límāo). The meaning fox comes mainly from the compound 狐狸 (húli), where 狐 (hú) is the actual fox character.
Why are there two forms, 貍 and 狸?
Both are built the same way, with 里 as the sound part and an animal radical as the meaning part. 貍 uses 豸 while 狸 uses 犭. Over time 狸 became the standard form, and 貍 is now treated as a variant.