艾 (ài) is a Chinese character meaning “mugwort (Artemisia)”. It is written from 艹 (grass / plant radical) and 乂 (crossing strokes), one above the other, and takes 5 strokes.
Build the character for “mugwort”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
艹 + 乂
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: 说文解字: 艾，冰臺也。从艸乂聲; modern decomposition checked against hanzi-writer-data 艾 stroke geometry (3 + 2 = 5 strokes)
Memory aid
Grass (艹) sitting on top of two crossing strokes (乂) — a plant you cut: mugwort.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
5 strokes
In real words
- 艾草ài cǎomugwort艾 = ài
- 艾滋病ài zī bìngAIDS艾 = ài
- 艾灸ài jiǔmoxibustion (treatment with burning mugwort)艾 = ài
Go deeper
All readings
mugwort
mugwort (Artemisia); the herb burned in moxibustion; also a surname
艾蒿，一种有香味的草本植物，晒干后可用来针灸熏灸；也作姓氏。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 艾草ài cǎomugwort艾 = ài
- 艾滋病ài zī bìngAIDS艾 = ài
- 艾灸ài jiǔmoxibustion (treatment with burning mugwort)艾 = ài
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 艾 mean?
艾 (ài) means mugwort (Artemisia); the herb burned in moxibustion; also a surname.
How do you pronounce 艾?
It is pronounced ài.
What parts is 艾 made of?
艹 (grass / plant radical) and 乂 (crossing strokes), one above the other. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 艾，冰臺也。从艸乂聲; modern decomposition checked against hanzi-writer-data 艾 stroke geometry (3 + 2 = 5 strokes). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 艾 have?
5. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 艾?
艹. 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 艾?
Common ones are 艾草 and 艾滋病. The reading of 艾 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.