馏 meaning and stroke order
Distill, distillation
How to write 馏, stroke by stroke
13 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 馏
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to distill
- to break a liquid substance up into components by boiling
- to steam
- to cook in a steamer
- to reheat cold food by steaming it
How 馏 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. Distilled 留 wine 饣; 留 also provides the pronunciation.
Radical: 饣 (food), shared by 43 characters on this site.
How to remember 馏
The food radical 饣 sits beside 留 (liú, to keep). Think of heating food or wine so the good part is kept and collected, which is distilling, and 留 also gives the sound liú.
Read liú, it appears mostly in technical words like 蒸馏 (zhēngliú, to distill) and 馏分 (liúfèn, fraction). Read liù, it is an everyday kitchen verb meaning to reheat food by steaming. Example: 把馒头馏一下。(Bǎ mántou liù yíxià.) Steam the buns to warm them up.
Common mistake: Learners often read every 馏 as liú, but the kitchen sense of reheating by steam is liù with the fourth tone. Also do not confuse it with 溜 (liū, to slide), which has the water radical 氵 instead of the food radical 饣.
Questions about 馏
How many strokes are in 馏?
馏 is written with 13 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 馏 mean?
馏 (liú) means distill, distillation.
How do you pronounce 馏?
馏 is pronounced liú, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 馏?
The radical of 馏 is 饣, which carries the idea of "food". Dictionaries list 馏 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 馏?
The traditional form of 馏 is 餾. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 馏 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
What does 蒸馏水 mean?
蒸馏水 (zhēngliúshuǐ) means distilled water. You will see it on bottles and in science or medical contexts.
How is 馏 (liù) different from 蒸 (zhēng)?
蒸 is the general word for steaming, including cooking raw food. 馏 (liù) usually means steaming food that is already cooked and has gone cold, so it is closer to reheating.