霉 meaning and stroke order
Mildew, mold, rot
How to write 霉, stroke by stroke
15 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 霉
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- mold
- mildew
- to become moldy
- variant of 霉[mei2]
How 霉 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Rain.
雨 gives the meaning and 每 hints at the sound.
Radical: 雨 (rain), shared by 42 characters on this site.
How to remember 霉
Rain 雨 on top, and 每 (měi) below gives the sound. Picture rain falling every day (每天) until everything turns moldy.
霉 is most common in 发霉 (fāméi, to go moldy) and in the everyday phrase 倒霉 (dǎoméi, to be unlucky). Example: 我今天真倒霉。(Wǒ jīntiān zhēn dǎoméi.) I am so unlucky today.
Common mistake: Learners often write 每 with a 毋-like bottom or mix up 霉 with 梅 (méi, plum), which has the same sound but uses 木. Also note the tone: 霉 is second tone méi, while its phonetic 每 is third tone měi.
Common words with 霉
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
霉 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 霉
How many strokes are in 霉?
霉 is written with 15 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 霉 mean?
霉 (méi) means mildew, mold, rot. A common word with it is 倒霉 (dǎoméi), meaning "to have bad luck; to be out of luck".
How do you pronounce 霉?
霉 is pronounced méi, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 霉?
The radical of 霉 is 雨, which carries the idea of "rain". Dictionaries list 霉 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 霉?
The traditional form of 霉 is 黴. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 霉 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 霉 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 霉 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why does 倒霉 mean bad luck if 霉 means mold?
In 倒霉, 霉 extends from rot and decay to the idea of bad fortune, as also seen in 霉运 (méiyùn, ill luck). In daily speech the luck meaning is far more common than the mold meaning.
Is 霉 used in any scientific words?
Yes. It appears in names of molds and antibiotics, such as 青霉素 (qīngméisù, penicillin), which comes from a mold.