皿 (mǐn) is a Chinese character meaning “a shallow open container: dish, plate, bowl”. It is written from 冂 (down box) and 丨 (vertical stroke) and 丨 (vertical stroke) and 一 (one), and takes 5 strokes.
Build the character for “dish, vessel”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
冂 + 丨 + 丨 + 一
Overlapping structure
- 冂 down box · jiōng unknown
- 丨 vertical stroke · gǔn unknown
- 丨 vertical stroke · gǔn unknown
- 一 one · yī unknown
Structure from: Unicode U+76BF and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (five strokes: 竖 / 横折 / 竖 / 竖 / 横; strokes 1–2 form the 冂 frame)
Memory aid
The open frame (冂) is the bowl seen from the side, the two uprights (丨 丨) are the legs it stands on, and the long bottom line (一) is the table it rests on. 皿 is a dish.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
5 strokes
In real words
- 器皿qì mǐncontainers; vessels; utensils (dishes, bowls, jars taken together)皿 = mǐn
Go deeper
All readings
dish; vessel
a shallow open container: dish, plate, bowl; the general term for such vessels
盛东西的浅底器具，碗、盘、盆等的总称。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 器皿qì mǐncontainers; vessels; utensils (dishes, bowls, jars taken together)皿 = mǐn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 皿 mean?
皿 (mǐn) means a shallow open container: dish, plate, bowl; the general term for such vessels.
How do you pronounce 皿?
It is pronounced mǐn.
What parts is 皿 made of?
冂 (down box) and 丨 (vertical stroke) and 丨 (vertical stroke) and 一 (one). The recorded source is: Unicode U+76BF and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (five strokes: 竖 / 横折 / 竖 / 竖 / 横; strokes 1–2 form the 冂 frame). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 皿 have?
5. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 皿?
皿. 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 皿?
Common ones are 器皿. The reading of 皿 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.