姆 (mǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “a woman employed to look after children”. It is written from 女 (woman; female) and 母 (mother), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “nursemaid”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
女 + 母
Left–right structure
Structure from: 现代字形拆分（对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：女 3 画 + 母 5 画 = 8 画）
Memory aid
The left half, 女 (woman), tells you this character is about a woman. The right half, 母 (mǔ, mother), is carrying the sound here: mǔ → mǔ. She is not the child's mother — she is the woman hired to look after the child.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 保姆bǎo mǔnanny; housekeeper; childminder姆 = mǔspoken asbáo mǔ
Go deeper
All readings
nursemaid
a woman employed to look after children; used in 保姆 (nanny, housekeeper)
受雇照看孩子的女性，多用于「保姆」。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 保姆bǎo mǔnanny; housekeeper; childminder姆 = mǔspoken asbáo mǔ
Sound component
母 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 姆 mean?
姆 (mǔ) means a woman employed to look after children; used in 保姆 (nanny, housekeeper).
How do you pronounce 姆?
It is pronounced mǔ.
What parts is 姆 made of?
女 (woman; female) and 母 (mother), side by side. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分（对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：女 3 画 + 母 5 画 = 8 画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 姆 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 姆?
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 姆?
Common ones are 保姆. The reading of 姆 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.