婆 (pó) is a Chinese character meaning “old woman”. It is written from 波 (wave) and 女 (woman; female), one above the other, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “old woman; grandmother”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
波 + 女
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: cjkvi-ids (婆 ⿱波女); makemeahanzi dictionary (pictophonetic: 女 semantic, 波 phonetic)
Memory aid
Waves (波) roll above a woman (女): an old granny who has watched many waves come and go.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 外婆wài pógrandmother (mother's mother)婆 = pó
- 老婆lǎo pówife (colloquial)婆 = póspoken aslǎo po
Go deeper
All readings
old woman; grandmother
old woman; grandmother; mother-in-law (husband's mother)
年老的妇女；也用来称呼祖母、外祖母或丈夫的母亲。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 外婆wài pógrandmother (mother's mother)婆 = pó
- 老婆lǎo pówife (colloquial)婆 = póspoken aslǎo po
Sound component
波 family onset shift
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 婆 mean?
婆 (pó) means old woman; grandmother; mother-in-law (husband's mother).
How do you pronounce 婆?
It is pronounced pó.
What parts is 婆 made of?
波 (wave) and 女 (woman; female), one above the other. The recorded source is: cjkvi-ids (婆 ⿱波女); makemeahanzi dictionary (pictophonetic: 女 semantic, 波 phonetic). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 婆 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 婆?
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 婆?
Common ones are 外婆 and 老婆. The reading of 婆 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.