麵 meaning and stroke order
Face; surface, side; plane, dimension
How to write 麵, stroke by stroke
20 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
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
Meaning of 麵
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- flour
- noodles
- (of food) soft (not crunchy)
- (slang) (of a person) ineffectual
- spineless
How 麵 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Face.
面 gives the meaning and 麥 hints at the sound.
Radical: 麥 (wheat), shared by 4 characters on this site.
How to remember 麵
Think of 麥 (mài, wheat) on the left beside 面 (miàn) on the right: wheat ground down and turned into something called miàn, which is flour and noodles. The right side even gives you the sound.
麵 is the traditional way to write the food sense of miàn, meaning flour, dough or noodles. In simplified Chinese it is written 面, so words like 面条 (miàntiáo, noodles) and 面包 (miànbāo, bread) appear as 麵條 and 麵包 in traditional texts. Example: 我想吃牛肉麵。(Wǒ xiǎng chī niúròu miàn.) I want to eat beef noodles.
Common mistake: Learners often use 麵 for the face or surface meanings of miàn, as in 面子 (miànzi) or 前面 (qiánmiàn), but those are always written with plain 面, even in traditional Chinese. Only the food senses take the 麥 wheat part.
Common words with 麵
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 麵包 | miànbāo | bread | HSK 1 |
| 麵條兒 | miàntiáor | erhua variant of 麵條|面条[mian4 tiao2] | HSK 1 |
| 方便麵 | fāngbiànmiàn | instant noodles | HSK 2 |
| 麵粉 | miànfěn | flour | HSK 7-9 |
| 麵條 | miàntiáo | noodles | |
| 麵包車 | miànbāochē | van for carrying people; taxi minibus | |
| 拉麵 | lāmiàn | pulled noodles; ramen | |
| 麵包店 | miànbāodiàn | bakery | |
| 麵團 | miàntuán | dough | |
| 烤麵包 | kǎomiànbāo | to toast bread; toasted bread; toast | |
| 麵包屑 | miànbāoxiè | breadcrumbs | |
| 意麵 | yìmiàn | pasta (abbr. for 意大利麵|意大利面[yi4 da4 li4 mian4]); (Tw) yi mein, a variety of Cantonese egg n | |
| 炸醬麵 | zhájiàngmiàn | zhajiang mian, thick wheat noodles served with ground pork simmered in salty fermented soy | |
| 炒麵 | chǎomiàn | stir-fried noodles; "chow mein" |
Questions about 麵
How many strokes are in 麵?
麵 is written with 20 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 麵 mean?
麵 (miàn) means face; surface, side; plane, dimension. A common word with it is 面包 (miànbāo), meaning "bread".
How do you pronounce 麵?
麵 is pronounced miàn, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 麵?
The radical of 麵 is 麥, which carries the idea of "wheat". Dictionaries list 麵 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 麵?
麵 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 面, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Why does the dictionary list face as a meaning of 麵?
In simplified Chinese, 麵 and 面 were merged into one character, 面. Because of that, some dictionaries list the face and surface meanings of 面 together with the food meanings, but 麵 itself is used for flour and noodles.
What does 麵 mean when describing a person or food as soft?
Colloquially, miàn can describe food that is soft and mealy rather than crunchy, like a floury apple or potato. As slang for a person, it means weak or spineless, someone with no backbone.