雞 meaning and stroke order
Chicken
How to write 雞, stroke by stroke
18 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 雞
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- fowl
- chicken
- (slang) prostitute
How 雞 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. Another 奚 kind of bird 隹.
Radical: 隹 (short-tailed bird), shared by 32 characters on this site.
How to remember 雞
雞 joins 奚 (xī) on the left with 隹 (zhuī), the short-tailed bird, on the right. Think of it as "another kind of bird", the farmyard one, with 奚 also hinting at the sound.
雞 is the traditional form used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and older texts, while mainland China writes 鸡. It appears in everyday food and animal words like 雞蛋 (jīdàn, egg), 雞肉 (jīròu, chicken meat), 公雞 (gōngjī, rooster) and 母雞 (mǔjī, hen). Example: 我早上吃了兩個雞蛋。(Wǒ zǎoshang chīle liǎng ge jīdàn.) I ate two eggs this morning.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes write the right side as 鳥 because chickens are birds, but 雞 uses 隹. The variant 鷄 with 鳥 exists, though 雞 is the standard form. Also keep the first tone jī, not jí or jǐ.
Common words with 雞
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 雞蛋 | jīdàn | (chicken) egg; hen's egg | HSK 1 |
| 公雞 | gōngjī | cock; rooster | HSK 6 |
| 母雞 | mǔjī | hen; don't know (humorous slang mimicking Cantonese 唔知, Jyutping: m4 zi1) | HSK 6 |
| 鶴立雞群 | hèlìjīqún | a crane in a flock of chicken (idiom); way above the common; manifestly superior | HSK 7-9 |
| 雞肉 | jīròu | chicken meat | |
| 雞巴 | jība | dick; penis (vulgar) | |
| 火雞 | huǒjī | turkey | |
| 雞尾酒 | jīwěijiǔ | (calque) cocktail | |
| 小雞 | xiǎojī | chick | |
| 雞雞 | jījī | penis (childish) | |
| 炸雞 | zhájī | fried chicken | |
| 小雞雞 | xiǎojījī | penis (child's word) | |
| 雞皮疙瘩 | jīpígēda | goose pimples; goose bumps | |
| 雞腿 | jītuǐ | chicken leg; drumstick |
Questions about 雞
How many strokes are in 雞?
雞 is written with 18 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 雞 mean?
雞 (jī) means chicken. A common word with it is 鸡蛋 (jīdàn), meaning "(chicken) egg; hen's egg".
How do you pronounce 雞?
雞 is pronounced jī, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 雞?
The radical of 雞 is 隹, which carries the idea of "short-tailed bird". Dictionaries list 雞 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 雞?
雞 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 鸡, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is it rude to use 雞 in some contexts?
Yes. In slang 雞 can mean a prostitute, and 雞巴 (jība) is a vulgar word for penis. In food and farm contexts 雞 is completely normal, but avoid using it to describe a person.
Why does 雞尾酒 mean cocktail?
雞尾酒 (jīwěijiǔ) is a calque, a word-for-word translation of English "cocktail": 雞 (chicken) + 尾 (tail) + 酒 (alcohol). Similarly, a turkey is 火雞 (huǒjī), literally "fire chicken".