胎 (tāi) is a Chinese character meaning “foetus”. It is written from 月 (moon; month) and 台 (platform; terrace (in 冶 and 苔 it carries the sound)), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “foetus”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
月 + 台
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字: 胎，婦孕三月也。从肉台聲
Memory aid
月 on the left is the flesh-and-body radical; 台 on the right is a raised platform — and it also hands over the sound tái → tāi. Read it as a small platform of flesh inside the body, where a new life is carried.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 轮胎lún tāityre; tire胎 = tāi
- 胚胎pēi tāiembryo胎 = tāi
Go deeper
All readings
foetus
foetus; embryo; womb; birth; also the tyre of a wheel
母体内尚未出生的幼体，也指与怀孕相关的事物；又指车轮外的橡胶圈。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 轮胎lún tāityre; tire胎 = tāi
- 胚胎pēi tāiembryo胎 = tāi
Sound component
台 family tone diff
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 胎 mean?
胎 (tāi) means foetus; embryo; womb; birth; also the tyre of a wheel.
How do you pronounce 胎?
It is pronounced tāi.
What parts is 胎 made of?
月 (moon; month) and 台 (platform; terrace (in 冶 and 苔 it carries the sound)), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 胎，婦孕三月也。从肉台聲. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 胎 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 胎?
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 胎?
Common ones are 轮胎 and 胚胎. The reading of 胎 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.