埃 (āi) is a Chinese character meaning “fine dust”. It is written from 土 (earth; soil) and 矣 (a classical sentence-final particle), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “dust”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
土 + 矣
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字: 埃，塵也。从土矣聲
Memory aid
Earth (土) on the left, 矣 on the right: picture fine soil kicked up into the air until only floating dust is left.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 尘埃chén āidust埃 = āi
- 埃及Āi jíEgypt埃 = āi
Go deeper
All readings
dust
fine dust; also used to write foreign names (e.g. Egypt)
细小的灰尘；也用于音译外国名称。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 尘埃chén āidust埃 = āi
- 埃及Āi jíEgypt埃 = āi
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 埃 mean?
埃 (āi) means fine dust; also used to write foreign names (e.g. Egypt).
How do you pronounce 埃?
It is pronounced āi.
What parts is 埃 made of?
土 (earth; soil) and 矣 (a classical sentence-final particle), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 埃，塵也。从土矣聲. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 埃 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 埃?
土. 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 埃?
Common ones are 尘埃 and 埃及. The reading of 埃 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.