砖 (zhuān) is a Chinese character meaning “brick”. It is written from 石 (stone; rock) and 专 (specialized; focused), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “brick”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
石 + 专
Left–right structure
Structure from: ids-derived (⿰石专；左为石旁表义，右为专表声；已与 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 的 9 画笔顺逐笔核验：第 0–4 画为石，第 5–8 画为专)
Memory aid
Stone (石) on the left tells you what it is made of: fired earth, hard as rock. On the right, 专 (zhuān) carries no meaning here at all — it only lends its sound. A stone-like block that sounds like "zhuān": a brick.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 红砖hóng zhuānred brick砖 = zhuān
- 砖瓦zhuān wǎbricks and tiles; building materials砖 = zhuān
- 砖窑zhuān yáobrick kiln砖 = zhuān
Go deeper
All readings
brick
brick; a brick-shaped block
用黏土烧制成的建筑材料，多为长方块；也指形状像砖的东西。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 红砖hóng zhuānred brick砖 = zhuān
- 砖瓦zhuān wǎbricks and tiles; building materials砖 = zhuān
- 砖窑zhuān yáobrick kiln砖 = zhuān
Sound component
专 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 砖 mean?
砖 (zhuān) means brick; a brick-shaped block.
How do you pronounce 砖?
It is pronounced zhuān.
What parts is 砖 made of?
石 (stone; rock) and 专 (specialized; focused), side by side. The recorded source is: ids-derived (⿰石专；左为石旁表义，右为专表声；已与 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 的 9 画笔顺逐笔核验：第 0–4 画为石，第 5–8 画为专). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 砖 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 砖?
石. 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 砖?
Common ones are 红砖 and 砖瓦. The reading of 砖 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.