夏 (xià) is a Chinese character meaning “summer”. It is written from 𦣻 (head (an older form of 首); the top of 夏) and 夂 (trailing foot; to go slowly), one above the other, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “summer”
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Structure
𦣻 + 夂
Top–bottom structure
- 𦣻 head (an older form of 首); the top of 夏 · shǒu unknown
- 夂 trailing foot; to go slowly · zhǐ unknown
Structure from: hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph stroke inspection (上部七笔 𦣻 + 下部三笔 夂)
Memory aid
A big head (𦣻) on top of slow, dragging feet (夂): someone plodding along lazily in the summer heat.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 夏天xià tiānsummer夏 = xià
- 夏季xià jìsummer season夏 = xià
- 仲夏zhòng xiàmidsummer; the second month of summer夏 = xià
Go deeper
All readings
summer
summer; (Xia) the Xia dynasty; a surname
一年四季中的第二季，夏天。也指夏朝，或作姓。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 夏天xià tiānsummer夏 = xià
- 夏季xià jìsummer season夏 = xià
- 仲夏zhòng xiàmidsummer; the second month of summer夏 = xià
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 夏 mean?
夏 (xià) means summer; (Xia) the Xia dynasty; a surname.
How do you pronounce 夏?
It is pronounced xià.
What parts is 夏 made of?
𦣻 (head (an older form of 首); the top of 夏) and 夂 (trailing foot; to go slowly), one above the other. The recorded source is: hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph stroke inspection (上部七笔 𦣻 + 下部三笔 夂). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 夏 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 夏?
夊. 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 夏?
Common ones are 夏天 and 夏季. The reading of 夏 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.