姥 (lǎo) is a Chinese character meaning “maternal grandmother (used in 姥姥)”. It is written from 女 (woman; female) and 老 (old; aged), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “maternal grandmother”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
女 + 老
Left–right structure
Structure from: hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：现代字形左 3 画为女、右 6 画为老
Memory aid
A woman (女) who is old (老) — in northern Chinese families, that is grandma on your mother's side.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 姥姥lǎo laograndma (mother's mother)姥 = lǎo
Go deeper
All readings
maternal grandmother
maternal grandmother (used in 姥姥); grandma
外祖母，多用于「姥姥」。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 姥姥lǎo laograndma (mother's mother)姥 = lǎo
Easy to confuse with
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 姥 mean?
姥 (lǎo) means maternal grandmother (used in 姥姥); grandma.
How do you pronounce 姥?
It is pronounced lǎo.
What parts is 姥 made of?
女 (woman; female) and 老 (old; aged), side by side. The recorded source is: hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：现代字形左 3 画为女、右 6 画为老. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 姥 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 姥?
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 姥?
Common ones are 姥姥. The reading of 姥 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.