妈 (mā) is a Chinese character meaning “mother”. It is written from 女 (woman; female) and 马 (horse), side by side, and takes 6 strokes.
Build the character for “mom”
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Structure
女 + 马
Left–right structure
Structure from: 形声：从女，马声。《广韵》：妈，母也
Memory aid
The left half, 女 (woman), tells you what this character is about. The right half, 马 (mǎ, horse), has nothing to do with horses here — it is carrying the sound: mǎ → mā. Both parts are really in the character; only their jobs differ.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
6 strokes
In real words
- 妈妈mā mamom; mother妈 = māHSK 1
Go deeper
All readings
mom
mother; mom; ma
母亲；妈妈。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 妈妈mā mamom; mother妈 = māHSK 1
Sound component
马 family tone diff
Easy to confuse with
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 妈 mean?
妈 (mā) means mother; mom; ma.
How do you pronounce 妈?
It is pronounced mā.
What parts is 妈 made of?
女 (woman; female) and 马 (horse), side by side. This breakdown was checked by a human (source: 形声：从女，马声。《广韵》：妈，母也). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 妈 have?
6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 妈?
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 妈?
Common ones are 妈妈. The reading of 妈 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.