彩 (cǎi) is a Chinese character meaning “colour”. It is written from 采 (to pick; to gather (a hand 爫 over a tree 木)) and 彡 (three slanting strokes (bristles, hair, light or pattern)), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “colour”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
采 + 彡
Left–right structure
- 采 to pick; to gather (a hand 爫 over a tree 木) · cǎi sound
- 彡 three slanting strokes (bristles, hair, light or pattern) · shān meaning
Structure from: 说文解字: 彩，文章也。从彡，采声；现代字形经 hanzi-writer-data 笔画数据核验（采8画 + 彡3画 = 11画）
Memory aid
Gather (采) bright streaks (彡) of every shade, and you have colour.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 彩色cǎi sèmulticoloured; in colour彩 = cǎi
- 彩虹cǎi hóngrainbow彩 = cǎi
Go deeper
All readings
colour
colour; multicoloured; brilliant; applause
颜色；多种颜色的；精彩出色；称赞的欢呼声。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 彩色cǎi sèmulticoloured; in colour彩 = cǎi
- 彩虹cǎi hóngrainbow彩 = cǎi
Easy to confuse with
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 彩 mean?
彩 (cǎi) means colour; multicoloured; brilliant; applause.
How do you pronounce 彩?
It is pronounced cǎi.
What parts is 彩 made of?
采 (to pick; to gather (a hand 爫 over a tree 木)) and 彡 (three slanting strokes (bristles, hair, light or pattern)), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 彩，文章也。从彡，采声；现代字形经 hanzi-writer-data 笔画数据核验（采8画 + 彡3画 = 11画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 彩 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 彩?
彡. 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 彩?
Common ones are 彩色 and 彩虹. The reading of 彩 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.