芹 (qín) is a Chinese character meaning “celery”. It is written from 艹 (grass / plant radical) and 斤 (catty (unit of weight)), one above the other, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “celery”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
艹 + 斤
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: 说文解字·艸部：芹，楚葵也。从艸斤聲
Memory aid
Grass (艹) on top, a catty-weight (斤) underneath — the green stalks you buy by the pound: celery.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 芹菜qín càicelery芹 = qín
- 西芹xī qíncelery (the thick-stalked Western variety)芹 = qín
Go deeper
All readings
celery
celery; used chiefly in the word 芹菜
芹菜，一种茎可食用的蔬菜。多用于「芹菜」「西芹」等词。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 芹菜qín càicelery芹 = qín
- 西芹xī qíncelery (the thick-stalked Western variety)芹 = qín
Sound component
斤 family onset shift
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 芹 mean?
芹 (qín) means celery; used chiefly in the word 芹菜.
How do you pronounce 芹?
It is pronounced qín.
What parts is 芹 made of?
艹 (grass / plant radical) and 斤 (catty (unit of weight)), one above the other. The recorded source is: 说文解字·艸部：芹，楚葵也。从艸斤聲. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 芹 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 芹?
艸. 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 芹?
Common ones are 芹菜 and 西芹. The reading of 芹 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.