界 (jiè) is a Chinese character meaning “boundary”. It is written from 田 (field; farmland) and 介 (to be between; to interpose (in 价 it is the sound part)), one above the other, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “boundary; realm”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
田 + 介
Top–bottom structure
- 田 field; farmland · tián meaning
- 介 to be between; to interpose (in 价 it is the sound part) · jiè sound
Structure from: 说文解字（界，境也。从田介聲）；现代字形核验 IDS ⿱田介，笔画 田5 + 介4 = 9
Memory aid
A field (田) sitting on top of 介 — 介 is here for its sound jiè, and where one field stops, the boundary begins.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 世界shì jièworld界 = jièHSK 3
- 边界biān jièboundary; border界 = jiè
Go deeper
All readings
boundary; realm
boundary; border; a bounded area or domain (the world, a field, a circle)
地域的分界、边限；也指按性质划分出来的范围或领域。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 世界shì jièworld界 = jièHSK 3
- 边界biān jièboundary; border界 = jiè
Sound component
介 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 界 mean?
界 (jiè) means boundary; border; a bounded area or domain (the world, a field, a circle).
How do you pronounce 界?
It is pronounced jiè.
What parts is 界 made of?
田 (field; farmland) and 介 (to be between; to interpose (in 价 it is the sound part)), one above the other. The recorded source is: 说文解字（界，境也。从田介聲）；现代字形核验 IDS ⿱田介，笔画 田5 + 介4 = 9. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 界 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 界?
田. 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 界?
Common ones are 世界 and 边界. The reading of 界 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.