叁 (sān) is a Chinese character meaning “three — the formal, anti-tampering form of 三 used on”. It is written from 厶 (private component) and 大 (big) and 三 (three), and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “three (formal form)”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
厶 + 大 + 三
Top–middle–bottom structure
Structure from: modern-glyph decomposition (IDS ⿳厶大三; 笔画数 2+3+3=8，与 hanzi-writer-data 的 8 笔一致)
Memory aid
厶 curls up on top, 大 stands with arms out in the middle, and 三 — three plain lines — sits at the bottom. All three parts really are in this character, and the bottom one is the number itself: three, dressed up so nobody can add a stroke to it on a cheque.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 叁佰sān bǎithree hundred (formal figures)叁 = sān
- 叁拾sān shíthirty (formal figures)叁 = sān
Go deeper
All readings
three (formal form)
three — the formal, anti-tampering form of 三 used on cheques, receipts and contracts
数字「三」的大写形式，用于支票、发票、合同等正式票据，笔画多，不易被涂改。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 叁佰sān bǎithree hundred (formal figures)叁 = sān
- 叁拾sān shíthirty (formal figures)叁 = sān
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 叁 mean?
叁 (sān) means three — the formal, anti-tampering form of 三 used on cheques, receipts and contracts.
How do you pronounce 叁?
It is pronounced sān.
What parts is 叁 made of?
厶 (private component) and 大 (big) and 三 (three). The recorded source is: modern-glyph decomposition (IDS ⿳厶大三; 笔画数 2+3+3=8，与 hanzi-writer-data 的 8 笔一致). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 叁 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 叁?
厶. 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 叁?
Common ones are 叁佰 and 叁拾. The reading of 叁 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.