妆 (zhuāng) is a Chinese character meaning “to apply makeup”. It is written from 丬 (split wood (left form of 爿)) and 女 (woman; female), side by side, and takes 6 strokes.
Build the character for “makeup”
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Structure
丬 + 女
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字·女部：妝，飾也。从女，爿聲
Memory aid
A woman (女) standing behind a tall folding screen (丬) — she steps out with her face made up. Both parts are really in this character; 丬 is here for its sound, not its meaning.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
6 strokes
In real words
- 化妆huà zhuāngto put on makeup妆 = zhuāng
- 化妆品huà zhuāng pǐncosmetics妆 = zhuāng
Go deeper
All readings
makeup
to apply makeup; to adorn oneself; makeup; a woman's attire or trousseau
打扮、修饰容貌；也指妆饰本身。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 化妆huà zhuāngto put on makeup妆 = zhuāng
- 化妆品huà zhuāng pǐncosmetics妆 = zhuāng
Origin
The Shuowen Jiezi analyses 妝 as "to adorn — from 女 (woman) with 爿 as the phonetic". In the simplified form that phonetic is written 丬. 爿 (pán/qiáng) and 妆 (zhuāng) no longer sound alike today, a normal result of two thousand years of sound change.
Source: 说文解字·女部：妝，飾也。从女，爿聲
Easy to confuse with
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 妆 mean?
妆 (zhuāng) means to apply makeup; to adorn oneself; makeup; a woman's attire or trousseau.
How do you pronounce 妆?
It is pronounced zhuāng.
What parts is 妆 made of?
丬 (split wood (left form of 爿)) and 女 (woman; female), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字·女部：妝，飾也。从女，爿聲. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 妆 have?
6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 妆?
女. 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 妆?
Common ones are 化妆 and 化妆品. The reading of 妆 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.