栽 (zāi) is a Chinese character meaning “to plant”. It is written from 戈 (dagger-axe (ancient pole weapon); Kangxi radical 62) and 十 (ten) and 木 (tree; wood), one enclosing the other, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “to plant”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
戈 + 十 + 木
Enclosing structure
- 戈 dagger-axe (ancient pole weapon); Kangxi radical 62 · gē sound
- 十 ten · shí sound
- 木 tree; wood · mù meaning
Structure from: 说文解字：栽，築牆長版也。从木𢦏聲；现代字形拆分（戈/十/木）经 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验
Memory aid
A dagger-axe (戈) guards a little cross-shaped stake (十) and a young tree (木) set into the ground below it — 栽 is to plant something so it takes root.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 栽树zāi shùto plant trees栽 = zāi
- 栽培zāi péito cultivate; to grow (plants); to train (talent)栽 = zāi
- 盆栽pén zāipotted plant; bonsai栽 = zāi
Go deeper
All readings
to plant
to plant; to grow (trees, flowers); to stick in or insert; (colloquial) to fall, as in 栽跟头 "to take a tumble".
种植；插上、安上；口语里也指摔倒（如「栽跟头」）。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 栽树zāi shùto plant trees栽 = zāi
- 栽培zāi péito cultivate; to grow (plants); to train (talent)栽 = zāi
- 盆栽pén zāipotted plant; bonsai栽 = zāi
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 栽 mean?
栽 (zāi) means to plant; to grow (trees, flowers); to stick in or insert; (colloquial) to fall, as in 栽跟头 "to take a tumble"..
How do you pronounce 栽?
It is pronounced zāi.
What parts is 栽 made of?
戈 (dagger-axe (ancient pole weapon); Kangxi radical 62) and 十 (ten) and 木 (tree; wood), one enclosing the other. The recorded source is: 说文解字：栽，築牆長版也。从木𢦏聲；现代字形拆分（戈/十/木）经 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 栽 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 栽?
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 栽?
Common ones are 栽树, 栽培, 盆栽. The reading of 栽 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.