胚 (pēi) is a Chinese character meaning “embryo”. It is written from 月 (moon; month) and 丕 (great; grand), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “embryo”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
月 + 丕
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字「胚，婦孕一月也。从肉丕聲」；现代字形 IDS 拆分 ⿰月丕，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–3 为左侧「月」（x 83–386），笔画 4–8 为右侧「丕」（x 416–914），4+5=9 画。左侧「月」为「肉」的偏旁形态。
Memory aid
On the left, 月 — the flesh form that marks characters about the body. On the right, 丕 (pī), which hands over the sound: pī → pēi. Flesh that is still only becoming a body: an embryo.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 胚胎pēi tāiembryo胚 = pēi
- 胚芽pēi yágerm; embryonic bud of a seed胚 = pēi
Go deeper
All readings
embryo
embryo; the earliest stage of a developing organism; the germ inside a seed
发育初期的幼小生物体；也指种子里将来长成植物的部分。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 胚胎pēi tāiembryo胚 = pēi
- 胚芽pēi yágerm; embryonic bud of a seed胚 = pēi
Sound component
丕 family rime near
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 胚 mean?
胚 (pēi) means embryo; the earliest stage of a developing organism; the germ inside a seed.
How do you pronounce 胚?
It is pronounced pēi.
What parts is 胚 made of?
月 (moon; month) and 丕 (great; grand), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字「胚，婦孕一月也。从肉丕聲」；现代字形 IDS 拆分 ⿰月丕，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–3 为左侧「月」（x 83–386），笔画 4–8 为右侧「丕」（x 416–914），4+5=9 画。左侧「月」为「肉」的偏旁形态。. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 胚 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 胚?
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 胚?
Common ones are 胚胎 and 胚芽. The reading of 胚 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.