毫 (háo) is a Chinese character meaning “fine long hair”. It is written from 亠 (lid) and 口 (mouth) and 冖 (cover) and 毛 (hair; fur; feather), one above the other, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “tiny amount; milli-”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
亠 + 口 + 冖 + 毛
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: IDS modern-glyph decomposition ⿱⿳亠口冖毛, stroke groups verified against hanzi-writer-data medians (亠 0–1, 口 2–4, 冖 5–6, 毛 7–10)
Memory aid
A lid (亠), a mouth (口), a cover (冖) — and tucked under all those layers, a single hair (毛). Something that small is 毫: the tiniest bit.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 毫米háo mǐmillimeter毫 = háo
- 丝毫sī háothe slightest bit (usually with a negative)毫 = háo
- 毫厘háo lía hair's breadth; the tiniest amount毫 = háo
Go deeper
All readings
fine hair; tiny amount; milli-
fine long hair; the tiniest amount; (with a negative) not in the least; milli- (one thousandth)
细长而尖的毛；比喻极小的数量；常与否定词连用表示一点儿也不；计量单位的千分之一。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 毫米háo mǐmillimeter毫 = háo
- 丝毫sī háothe slightest bit (usually with a negative)毫 = háo
- 毫厘háo lía hair's breadth; the tiniest amount毫 = háo
Easy to confuse with
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 毫 mean?
毫 (háo) means fine long hair; the tiniest amount; (with a negative) not in the least; milli- (one thousandth).
How do you pronounce 毫?
It is pronounced háo.
What parts is 毫 made of?
亠 (lid) and 口 (mouth) and 冖 (cover) and 毛 (hair; fur; feather), one above the other. The recorded source is: IDS modern-glyph decomposition ⿱⿳亠口冖毛, stroke groups verified against hanzi-writer-data medians (亠 0–1, 口 2–4, 冖 5–6, 毛 7–10). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 毫 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 毫?
毛. 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 毫?
Common ones are 毫米, 丝毫, 毫厘. The reading of 毫 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.