木 (mù) is a Chinese character meaning “tree”. It is written from ㇐ and ㇑ and ㇒ and ㇏, and takes 4 strokes.
Build the character for “tree; wood”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
㇐ + ㇑ + ㇒ + ㇏
Overlapping structure
- ㇐ horizontal stroke unknown
- ㇑ vertical stroke unknown
- ㇒ left-falling stroke unknown
- ㇏ falling-right stroke unknown
Structure from: Unicode U+6728 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (four strokes: 横 / 竖 / 撇 / 捺)
Memory aid
Lay one horizontal (㇐) across the top, drop a vertical (㇑) straight through it, then hang a left-falling stroke (㇒) and a right-falling stroke (㇏) off the crossing point.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
4 strokes
In real words
- 树木shù mùtrees木 = mù
- 木头mù touwood; timber; log木 = mù
- 乔木qiáo mùtall tree; arbor (a tree with a single tall trunk)木 = mù
- 伐木fá mùto fell trees; to log木 = mù
- 木兰mù lánmagnolia木 = mù
- 木匠mù jiàngcarpenter; joiner木 = mù
- 木材mù cáitimber; wood (as material)木 = mù
- 木板mù bǎnwooden board; plank木 = mù
- 木耳mù ěrwood ear mushroom木 = mù
- 朽木xiǔ mùrotten wood; (figuratively) a hopeless case木 = mù
- 枕木zhěn mùrailway sleeper; railroad tie木 = mù
- 啄木鸟zhuó mù niǎowoodpecker木 = mù
- 木屑mù xièsawdust; wood shavings木 = mù
- 木柴mù cháifirewood木 = mù
- 木桩mù zhuāngwooden stake; post木 = mù
- 木桶mù tǒngwooden bucket; wooden barrel木 = mù
- 木棒mù bàngwooden stick; club木 = mù
- 木炭mù tàncharcoal木 = mù
Go deeper
All readings
tree; wood
tree; wood; timber; wooden
树；木头；用木头做的。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 树木shù mùtrees木 = mù
- 木头mù touwood; timber; log木 = mù
- 乔木qiáo mùtall tree; arbor (a tree with a single tall trunk)木 = mù
- 伐木fá mùto fell trees; to log木 = mù
- 木兰mù lánmagnolia木 = mù
- 木匠mù jiàngcarpenter; joiner木 = mù
- 木材mù cáitimber; wood (as material)木 = mù
- 木板mù bǎnwooden board; plank木 = mù
- 木耳mù ěrwood ear mushroom木 = mù
- 朽木xiǔ mùrotten wood; (figuratively) a hopeless case木 = mù
- 枕木zhěn mùrailway sleeper; railroad tie木 = mù
- 啄木鸟zhuó mù niǎowoodpecker木 = mù
- 木屑mù xièsawdust; wood shavings木 = mù
- 木柴mù cháifirewood木 = mù
- 木桩mù zhuāngwooden stake; post木 = mù
- 木桶mù tǒngwooden bucket; wooden barrel木 = mù
- 木棒mù bàngwooden stick; club木 = mù
- 木炭mù tàncharcoal木 = mù
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 木 mean?
木 (mù) means tree; wood; timber; wooden.
How do you pronounce 木?
It is pronounced mù.
What parts is 木 made of?
㇐ and ㇑ and ㇒ and ㇏. The recorded source is: Unicode U+6728 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (four strokes: 横 / 竖 / 撇 / 捺). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 木 have?
4. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 木?
木. 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 木?
Common ones are 树木 and 木头. The reading of 木 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.