莱 (lái) is a Chinese character meaning “goosefoot, a wild weedy herb (also called 藜)”. It is written from 艹 (grass / plant radical) and 来 (to come), one above the other, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “goosefoot (Penglai)”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
艹 + 来
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分（对照 hanzi-writer-data 10 笔核验：艹 3 笔 + 来 7 笔）
Memory aid
Under the grass radical (艹) is 来, "to come". A wild plant that just comes up on its own everywhere — 莱, a weedy herb. 来 (lái) also gives the sound: 莱 is lái too.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 蓬莱Péng láiPenglai (a legendary island of immortals; also a city in Shandong)莱 = lái
- 莱菔lái fúradish (literary / traditional medicine name)莱 = lái
Go deeper
All readings
goosefoot (a wild herb); used in place names
goosefoot, a wild weedy herb (also called 藜); fallow field (classical); common in names such as Penglai 蓬莱
一种野生草本植物，即藜；古代也指休耕的田地。现代多用于地名、人名，如蓬莱。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 蓬莱Péng láiPenglai (a legendary island of immortals; also a city in Shandong)莱 = lái
- 莱菔lái fúradish (literary / traditional medicine name)莱 = lái
Sound component
来 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 莱 mean?
莱 (lái) means goosefoot, a wild weedy herb (also called 藜); fallow field (classical); common in names such as Penglai 蓬莱.
How do you pronounce 莱?
It is pronounced lái.
What parts is 莱 made of?
艹 (grass / plant radical) and 来 (to come), one above the other. The recorded source is: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分（对照 hanzi-writer-data 10 笔核验：艹 3 笔 + 来 7 笔）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 莱 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 莱?
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 莱?
Common ones are 蓬莱 and 莱菔. The reading of 莱 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.