沼 (zhǎo) is a Chinese character meaning “a natural pond or pool”. It is written from 氵 (water (left-side form)) and 召 (to summon; to call together), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “natural pond”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
氵 + 召
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字「沼，池水。从水召聲」；IDS 拆分 ⿰氵召，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「氵」三点，笔画 3–7 与「召」逐笔对应（3+5=8画）
Memory aid
Water (氵) on the left, 召 on the right: a hollow where the land summons (召) water to gather and stay — a pond.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 沼泽zhǎo zémarsh; swamp; wetland沼 = zhǎo
- 池沼chí zhǎopond; pool沼 = zhǎo
Go deeper
All readings
natural pond
a natural pond or pool; marshy water
天然的水塘；积水的洼地。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 沼泽zhǎo zémarsh; swamp; wetland沼 = zhǎo
- 池沼chí zhǎopond; pool沼 = zhǎo
Sound component
召 family tone diff
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 沼 mean?
沼 (zhǎo) means a natural pond or pool; marshy water.
How do you pronounce 沼?
It is pronounced zhǎo.
What parts is 沼 made of?
氵 (water (left-side form)) and 召 (to summon; to call together), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字「沼，池水。从水召聲」；IDS 拆分 ⿰氵召，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「氵」三点，笔画 3–7 与「召」逐笔对应（3+5=8画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 沼 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 沼?
氵. 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 沼?
Common ones are 沼泽 and 池沼. The reading of 沼 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.