鈔 meaning and stroke order
Bank note, paper money; to counterfeit
How to write 鈔, stroke by stroke
12 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
Meaning of 鈔
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- money
- paper money
- variant of 抄[chao1]
How 鈔 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Money.
釒 gives the meaning and 少 hints at the sound.
Radical: 釒 (gold), shared by 135 characters on this site.
How to remember 鈔
The metal radical 釒 points to money, and 少 (shǎo) gives the sound. Picture a little (少) bit of money that has turned from metal coins into light paper bills.
鈔 (simplified 钞) means paper money and appears mostly in compounds rather than alone. The everyday word is 钞票 (chāopiào), and you will also see 现钞 (xiànchāo, cash) at banks. Example: 我钱包里只有几张钞票。 (Wǒ qiánbāo lǐ zhǐ yǒu jǐ zhāng chāopiào.) I only have a few bills in my wallet.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 钞 (chāo, money) with 抄 (chāo, to copy), since they sound identical. 抄 has the hand radical 扌 and is the normal choice for copying, as in 抄写 (chāoxiě). 钞 has the metal radical for money.
Common words with 鈔
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 鈔票 | chāopiào | paper money; a bill (e.g. 100 yuan) | HSK 7-9 |
Questions about 鈔
How many strokes are in 鈔?
鈔 is written with 12 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 鈔 mean?
鈔 (chāo) means bank note, paper money; to counterfeit. A common word with it is 钞票 (chāopiào), meaning "paper money; a bill (e.g. 100 yuan)".
How do you pronounce 鈔?
鈔 is pronounced chāo, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 鈔?
The radical of 鈔 is 釒, which carries the idea of "gold". Dictionaries list 鈔 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 鈔?
鈔 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 钞, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Why does 鈔 have a metal radical if it means paper money?
The radical 釒 marks things related to metal and, by extension, money. Here it signals the money meaning, while 少 gives the sound.
Can 鈔 be used as a verb?
The dictionary lists it as a variant of 抄 (chāo), so in older texts it can mean to copy or to seize. In modern Chinese, use 抄 for these verbs and keep 钞 for money.