麥 meaning and stroke order
Wheat, barley, oats
How to write 麥, stroke by stroke
11 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 麥
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- wheat; barley; oats
- mic (abbr. for 麥克風|麦克风[mai4 ke4 feng1])
How 麥 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. Grains 來 ready to be harvested 夂; compare 麦.
How to remember 麥
The top part 來 (lái) shows a grain plant, and the bottom 夂 suggests feet walking. Picture grain 來 ready for harvest with people walking out to the field to gather it, and you get 麥 (mài), wheat.
麥 is the traditional form, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Mainland China writes 麦. It rarely stands alone and usually appears in words like 小麥 (xiǎomài, wheat), 大麥 (dàmài, barley) and 燕麥 (yànmài, oats). Example: 我早上吃麥片。(Wǒ zǎoshang chī màipiàn.) I eat oatmeal in the morning.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 麥 with its top component 來 (lái, to come), since the two look almost the same until you notice the 夂 underneath. Also keep the fourth tone: mài (wheat) is not mǎi 買 (to buy) or mài 賣 (to sell), even though 賣 shares the same sound.
Common words with 麥
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
Characters that contain 麥
Learning 麥 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 麥
How many strokes are in 麥?
麥 is written with 11 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 麥 mean?
麥 (mài) means wheat, barley, oats. A common word with it is 小麦 (xiǎomài), meaning "wheat".
How do you pronounce 麥?
麥 is pronounced mài, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the simplified form of 麥?
麥 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 麦, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Why does 麥 sometimes mean microphone?
It is a shortened form of the loanword 麥克風 (màikèfēng), which imitates the sound of the English word microphone. In casual speech, especially at karaoke, people say 麥 for mic, as in 給我麥 (gěi wǒ mài), give me the mic.
Which word should I use for plain wheat?
Use 小麥 (xiǎomài) in writing and on food labels. In everyday speech, 麥子 (màizi) is also common, especially when talking about the crop in the field.