剖 (pōu) is a Chinese character meaning “to cut open”. It is written from 咅 (pǒu — a sound component (立 over 口), heard in 倍, 陪, 部) and 刂 (knife (side form)), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “to cut open”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
咅 + 刂
Left–right structure
- 咅 pǒu — a sound component (立 over 口), heard in 倍, 陪, 部 · pǒu sound
- 刂 knife (side form) · dāo meaning
Structure from: IDS 现代字形拆分 ⿰咅刂；与 hanzi-writer-data 笔画数据核验：全字 10 笔，第 1–8 笔属 咅，第 9–10 笔属 刂；说文解字：剖，判也。从刀咅声
Memory aid
Stand (立) over the mouth (口) of the thing, then take the knife (刂) and cut it open down the middle.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 解剖jiě pōuto dissect; anatomy剖 = pōu
- 剖析pōu xīto analyze; to dissect (a problem)剖 = pōu
Go deeper
All readings
to cut open
to cut open; to split; to analyze
破开；分开。引申为分析、辨明。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 解剖jiě pōuto dissect; anatomy剖 = pōu
- 剖析pōu xīto analyze; to dissect (a problem)剖 = pōu
Sound component
咅 family tone diff
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 剖 mean?
剖 (pōu) means to cut open; to split; to analyze.
How do you pronounce 剖?
It is pronounced pōu.
What parts is 剖 made of?
咅 (pǒu — a sound component (立 over 口), heard in 倍, 陪, 部) and 刂 (knife (side form)), side by side. The recorded source is: IDS 现代字形拆分 ⿰咅刂；与 hanzi-writer-data 笔画数据核验：全字 10 笔，第 1–8 笔属 咅，第 9–10 笔属 刂；说文解字：剖，判也。从刀咅声. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 剖 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 剖?
刀. 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 剖?
Common ones are 解剖 and 剖析. The reading of 剖 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.