肪 (fáng) is a Chinese character meaning “body fat”. It is written from 月 (moon; month) and 方 (square; direction (Kangxi radical 70)), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “body fat”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
月 + 方
Left–right structure
Structure from: 《说文解字》：肪，肥也。从肉方聲；现代字形以 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 核验：8 画 = 左「月」4 画 + 右「方」4 画（左旁「月」为肉的偏旁形）
Memory aid
The flesh-side 月 says this belongs to the body, and 方 (fāng) carries the sound — 肪, fáng, the fat stored under the skin.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 脂肪zhī fángfat (body fat; dietary fat)肪 = fáng
Go deeper
All readings
fat
body fat; animal fat — in modern Chinese it appears almost only inside the word 脂肪
动物体内的油脂，现代汉语中几乎只用在「脂肪」里。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 脂肪zhī fángfat (body fat; dietary fat)肪 = fáng
Sound component
方 family tone diff
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 肪 mean?
肪 (fáng) means body fat; animal fat — in modern Chinese it appears almost only inside the word 脂肪.
How do you pronounce 肪?
It is pronounced fáng.
What parts is 肪 made of?
月 (moon; month) and 方 (square; direction (Kangxi radical 70)), side by side. The recorded source is: 《说文解字》：肪，肥也。从肉方聲；现代字形以 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 核验：8 画 = 左「月」4 画 + 右「方」4 画（左旁「月」为肉的偏旁形）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 肪 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 肪?
肉. 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 肪?
Common ones are 脂肪. The reading of 肪 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.