杀 (shā) is a Chinese character meaning “to kill”. It is written from 乂 (crossing strokes) and 朩 (a tree with its lower branches drawn as a short slant and a dot; the bottom half of 杀 and 条), one above the other, and takes 6 strokes.
Build the character for “to kill”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
乂 + 朩
Top–bottom structure
- 乂 crossing strokes unknown
- 朩 wood shape whose slanting strokes stand apart from the vertical unknown
Structure from: hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph stroke inspection (上二笔撇捺成 乂，下四笔横竖撇点成 朩)
Memory aid
A slashing cross (乂) comes down on top of a bare tree (朩) — the blade lands, and the tree is cut down. 杀 is to kill.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
6 strokes
In real words
- 杀死shā sǐto kill (so that the target dies)杀 = shā
- 自杀zì shāto commit suicide杀 = shā
- 扼杀è shāto strangle; to stifle; to smother杀 = shā
- 屠杀tú shāto massacre; massacre杀 = shā
Go deeper
All readings
to kill
to kill; to slaughter; to fight; (after a verb) extremely
使人或动物失去生命；也用在动词后表示程度深。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 杀死shā sǐto kill (so that the target dies)杀 = shā
- 自杀zì shāto commit suicide杀 = shā
- 扼杀è shāto strangle; to stifle; to smother杀 = shā
- 屠杀tú shāto massacre; massacre杀 = shā
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 杀 mean?
杀 (shā) means to kill; to slaughter; to fight; (after a verb) extremely.
How do you pronounce 杀?
It is pronounced shā.
What parts is 杀 made of?
乂 (crossing strokes) and 朩 (a tree with its lower branches drawn as a short slant and a dot; the bottom half of 杀 and 条), one above the other. The recorded source is: hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph stroke inspection (上二笔撇捺成 乂，下四笔横竖撇点成 朩). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 杀 have?
6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 杀?
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 杀?
Common ones are 杀死 and 自杀. The reading of 杀 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.