栗 (lì) is a Chinese character meaning “chestnut”. It is written from 覀 (cover (flattened form of the radical 襾)) and 木 (tree; wood), one above the other, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “chestnut”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
覀 + 木
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: modern glyph decomposition, cross-checked against hanzi-writer-data stroke counts (覀 6 + 木 4 = 10)
Memory aid
A flat cover (覀) sitting on top of a tree (木) — like the spiky husk that covers the nut a chestnut tree grows.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 栗子lì zichestnut栗 = lì
- 板栗bǎn lìChinese chestnut栗 = lì
Go deeper
All readings
chestnut
chestnut; chestnut tree; (in 战栗) to shiver, to tremble
栗树，也指它的果实栗子；又用在「战栗」等词里，表示因害怕或寒冷而发抖。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 栗子lì zichestnut栗 = lì
- 板栗bǎn lìChinese chestnut栗 = lì
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 栗 mean?
栗 (lì) means chestnut; chestnut tree; (in 战栗) to shiver, to tremble.
How do you pronounce 栗?
It is pronounced lì.
What parts is 栗 made of?
覀 (cover (flattened form of the radical 襾)) and 木 (tree; wood), one above the other. The recorded source is: modern glyph decomposition, cross-checked against hanzi-writer-data stroke counts (覀 6 + 木 4 = 10). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 栗 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 栗?
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 栗?
Common ones are 栗子 and 板栗. The reading of 栗 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.