籽 (zǐ) is a Chinese character meaning “seed”. It is written from 米 (rice (uncooked grains)) and 子 (child; son), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “seed”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
米 + 子
Left–right structure
Structure from: IDS ⿰米子（现代字形拆分，已对照 hanzi-writer 笔顺数据核验：6+3=9 画）
Memory aid
Grain (米) on the left, child (子) on the right: a seed is the plant's child — and 子 also hands you the sound, zǐ.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 菜籽cài zǐrapeseed; vegetable seed籽 = zǐ
- 籽粒zǐ lìgrain; seed kernel籽 = zǐ
Go deeper
All readings
seed
seed; pip; the seed of a plant
植物的种子；子实。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 菜籽cài zǐrapeseed; vegetable seed籽 = zǐ
- 籽粒zǐ lìgrain; seed kernel籽 = zǐ
Sound component
子 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 籽 mean?
籽 (zǐ) means seed; pip; the seed of a plant.
How do you pronounce 籽?
It is pronounced zǐ.
What parts is 籽 made of?
米 (rice (uncooked grains)) and 子 (child; son), side by side. The recorded source is: IDS ⿰米子（现代字形拆分，已对照 hanzi-writer 笔顺数据核验：6+3=9 画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 籽 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 籽?
米. 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 籽?
Common ones are 菜籽 and 籽粒. The reading of 籽 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.