鸨 meaning and stroke order
Bustard; procuress; Otis species (various)
How to write 鸨, stroke by stroke
9 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
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- 9
Meaning of 鸨
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- Chinese bustard
- procuress
How 鸨 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Bird.
鸟 gives the meaning and 匕 hints at the sound.
Radical: 鸟 (bird), shared by 72 characters on this site.
How to remember 鸨
The bird part 鸟 (niǎo) on the right tells you this is a bird. The left part 匕 over 十 gives the sound, so picture a big ground bird, the bustard, standing beside its call sign.
In modern Chinese 鸨 (bǎo) is rare on its own. It appears in bird names like 大鸨 (dàbǎo, great bustard) and in the old word 老鸨 (lǎobǎo), meaning a woman who runs a brothel. Example: 草原上有一只大鸨。(Cǎoyuán shàng yǒu yì zhī dàbǎo.) There is a great bustard on the grassland.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes read it as bāo or bào because of other bǎo/bāo characters. It is third tone, bǎo, like 宝 (bǎo). Also do not write the left side as a single 十 or 匕. It is 匕 stacked on top of 十.
Questions about 鸨
How many strokes are in 鸨?
鸨 is written with 9 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 鸨 mean?
鸨 (bǎo) means bustard; procuress; Otis species (various).
How do you pronounce 鸨?
鸨 is pronounced bǎo, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 鸨?
The radical of 鸨 is 鸟, which carries the idea of "bird". Dictionaries list 鸨 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 鸨?
The traditional form of 鸨 is 鴇. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 鸨 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 老鸨 an offensive word?
Yes, 老鸨 (lǎobǎo) is a negative, insulting term for a brothel madam. You will see it mostly in novels, historical dramas, or as an insult, not in polite conversation.
What kind of bird is a 鸨?
It refers to bustards, large birds of the Otis group that live on open grasslands. The best known in China is the 大鸨 (dàbǎo), the great bustard, which is a protected species.