折 (zhé) is a Chinese character meaning “to break”. It is written from 扌 (hand (radical form)) and 斤 (catty (unit of weight)), side by side, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “to break; to fold”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
扌 + 斤
Left–right structure
Structure from: modern-glyph decomposition, verified against hanzi-writer-data stroke counts (扌 3 + 斤 4 = 7)
Memory aid
A hand (扌) on the left, an axe (斤) on the right. The axe comes down and the branch snaps in two — 折 is to break, to fold.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 打折dǎ zhéto give a discount; to be on sale折 = zhéHSK 4
- 折纸zhé zhǐorigami; to fold paper折 = zhé
- 夭折yāo zhéto die young; (of a plan) to fall through折 = zhé
- 折扣zhé kòudiscount折 = zhé
- 挫折cuò zhésetback; frustration折 = zhé
Go deeper
All readings
to break; to fold
to break; to snap; to fold; to bend; to give a discount
弄断；把东西对折、弯折；也指打折扣。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 打折dǎ zhéto give a discount; to be on sale折 = zhéHSK 4
- 折纸zhé zhǐorigami; to fold paper折 = zhé
- 夭折yāo zhéto die young; (of a plan) to fall through折 = zhé
- 折扣zhé kòudiscount折 = zhé
- 挫折cuò zhésetback; frustration折 = zhé
Rare readings, not taught: shé, zhē
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 折 mean?
折 (zhé) means to break; to snap; to fold; to bend; to give a discount.
How do you pronounce 折?
It is pronounced zhé.
What parts is 折 made of?
扌 (hand (radical form)) and 斤 (catty (unit of weight)), side by side. The recorded source is: modern-glyph decomposition, verified against hanzi-writer-data stroke counts (扌 3 + 斤 4 = 7). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 折 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 折?
扌. 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 折?
Common ones are 打折 and 折纸. The reading of 折 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.