烙 (lào) is a Chinese character meaning “to brand or iron with a hot tool”. It is written from 火 (fire) and 各 (each; every), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “to brand; to bake on a griddle”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
火 + 各
Left–right structure
Structure from: IDS: ⿰火各; 广韵: 烙，盧各切（与各同属铎韵）
Memory aid
Fire (火) pressed onto each (各) piece — a hot iron leaves its mark, or dough bakes flat on a hot griddle.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 烙饼lào bǐnggriddle-baked flatbread; to make flatbread烙 = lào
- 烙印lào yìnbrand; lasting mark烙 = lào
Go deeper
All readings
to brand; to bake on a griddle
to brand or iron with a hot tool; to bake (flatbread) on a griddle or pan
用烧热的器物烫，使衣物平整或留下标记；把面食放在烧热的锅或铛上烤熟。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 烙饼lào bǐnggriddle-baked flatbread; to make flatbread烙 = lào
- 烙印lào yìnbrand; lasting mark烙 = lào
Sound component
各 family diverged
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 烙 mean?
烙 (lào) means to brand or iron with a hot tool; to bake (flatbread) on a griddle or pan.
How do you pronounce 烙?
It is pronounced lào.
What parts is 烙 made of?
火 (fire) and 各 (each; every), side by side. The recorded source is: IDS: ⿰火各; 广韵: 烙，盧各切（与各同属铎韵）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 烙 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 烙?
火. 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 烙?
Common ones are 烙饼 and 烙印. The reading of 烙 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.