椒 (jiāo) is a Chinese character meaning “pepper”. It is written from 木 (tree; wood) and 叔 (uncle (father's younger brother)), side by side, and takes 12 strokes.
Build the character for “pepper”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
木 + 叔
Left–right structure
Structure from: makemeahanzi dictionary (⿰木叔; pictophonetic: 木 semantic, 叔 phonetic) + cjkvi-ids U+6912 ⿰木叔
Memory aid
Your uncle (叔) climbs a tree (木) to pick tiny, fiery peppers. Tree on the left, uncle on the right: 椒, pepper.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
12 strokes
In real words
- 辣椒là jiāohot pepper; chili椒 = jiāo
- 胡椒hú jiāoblack pepper椒 = jiāo
Go deeper
All readings
pepper
pepper; hot pepper; spice plants such as Sichuan pepper
指胡椒、花椒、辣椒等有刺激性味道的植物或其果实。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 辣椒là jiāohot pepper; chili椒 = jiāo
- 胡椒hú jiāoblack pepper椒 = jiāo
Sound component
叔 family diverged
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 椒 mean?
椒 (jiāo) means pepper; hot pepper; spice plants such as Sichuan pepper.
How do you pronounce 椒?
It is pronounced jiāo.
What parts is 椒 made of?
木 (tree; wood) and 叔 (uncle (father's younger brother)), side by side. The recorded source is: makemeahanzi dictionary (⿰木叔; pictophonetic: 木 semantic, 叔 phonetic) + cjkvi-ids U+6912 ⿰木叔. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 椒 have?
12. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 椒?
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 椒?
Common ones are 辣椒 and 胡椒. The reading of 椒 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.