伟 (wěi) is a Chinese character meaning “great”. It is written from 亻 (person (the form 人 takes on the left)) and 韦 (wéi — the simplified form of 韋; used here as the sound part), side by side, and takes 6 strokes.
Build the character for “great”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
亻 + 韦
Left–right structure
- 亻 person (the form 人 takes on the left) · rén meaning
- 韦 wéi — tanned/softened leather; the simplified form of 韋, also used as a sound part · wéi sound
Structure from: modern-glyph decomposition (IDS ⿰亻韦; 笔画数 2+4=6 与 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 一致)
Memory aid
A person (亻) stands on the left, and the flag-like 韦 on the right barely reaches their shoulder. Someone who towers over everything around them is great.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
6 strokes
In real words
- 伟大wěi dàgreat; mighty伟 = wěi
- 雄伟xióng wěigrand; majestic; imposing伟 = wěi
- 宏伟hóng wěimagnificent; imposing伟 = wěi
Go deeper
All readings
great
great; mighty; extraordinary
高大；卓越；不平凡。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 伟大wěi dàgreat; mighty伟 = wěi
- 雄伟xióng wěigrand; majestic; imposing伟 = wěi
- 宏伟hóng wěimagnificent; imposing伟 = wěi
Sound component
韦 family tone diff
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 伟 mean?
伟 (wěi) means great; mighty; extraordinary.
How do you pronounce 伟?
It is pronounced wěi.
What parts is 伟 made of?
亻 (person (the form 人 takes on the left)) and 韦 (wéi — the simplified form of 韋; used here as the sound part), side by side. The recorded source is: modern-glyph decomposition (IDS ⿰亻韦; 笔画数 2+4=6 与 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 一致). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 伟 have?
6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 伟?
人. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 伟?
Common ones are 伟大 and 雄伟. The reading of 伟 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.