猫 (māo) is a Chinese character meaning “cat”. It is written from 犭 (dog / beast radical (side form of 犬)) and 苗 (sprout; young plant), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “cat”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
犭 + 苗
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字: 貓，貍屬。从豸苗聲（现代字形分作 ⿰犭苗，笔画分组据 hanzi-writer-data 3+8=11）
Memory aid
An animal (犭) creeping through young sprouts (苗) in the garden, stalking something small — that is a cat.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 小猫xiǎo māokitten; little cat猫 = māo
- 熊猫xióng māopanda猫 = māo
- 狸猫lí māoleopard cat猫 = māo
Go deeper
All readings
cat
cat
猫，一种常见的家养小型哺乳动物，善于捉老鼠。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 小猫xiǎo māokitten; little cat猫 = māo
- 熊猫xióng māopanda猫 = māo
- 狸猫lí māoleopard cat猫 = māo
Sound component
苗 family rime near
Easy to confuse with
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 猫 mean?
猫 (māo) means cat.
How do you pronounce 猫?
It is pronounced māo.
What parts is 猫 made of?
犭 (dog / beast radical (side form of 犬)) and 苗 (sprout; young plant), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 貓，貍屬。从豸苗聲（现代字形分作 ⿰犭苗，笔画分组据 hanzi-writer-data 3+8=11）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 猫 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 猫?
犬. 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 猫?
Common ones are 小猫 and 熊猫. The reading of 猫 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.