葫 (hú) is a Chinese character meaning “bottle gourd”. It is written from 艹 (grass / plant radical) and 胡 (hú — sound component (as in 湖, 蝴, 葫)), one above the other, and takes 12 strokes.
Build the character for “gourd”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
艹 + 胡
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: IDS ⿱艹胡 (cjkvi-ids; makemeahanzi decomposition: 艹 semantic, 胡 phonetic), checked against hanzi-writer-data stroke order (3 + 9 = 12 strokes)
Memory aid
A plant (艹) sitting on top of 胡 (hú). The plant tells you the meaning, 胡 tells you the sound: 葫 hú, the gourd in 葫芦.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
12 strokes
In real words
- 葫芦hú lubottle gourd; calabash葫 = hú
Go deeper
All readings
gourd
bottle gourd; calabash (mainly in 葫芦)
葫芦，一种草本植物，果实中间细、像两个球连在一起，可做容器。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 葫芦hú lubottle gourd; calabash葫 = hú
Sound component
胡 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 葫 mean?
葫 (hú) means bottle gourd; calabash (mainly in 葫芦).
How do you pronounce 葫?
It is pronounced hú.
What parts is 葫 made of?
艹 (grass / plant radical) and 胡 (hú — sound component (as in 湖, 蝴, 葫)), one above the other. The recorded source is: IDS ⿱艹胡 (cjkvi-ids; makemeahanzi decomposition: 艹 semantic, 胡 phonetic), checked against hanzi-writer-data stroke order (3 + 9 = 12 strokes). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 葫 have?
12. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 葫?
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 葫?
Common ones are 葫芦. The reading of 葫 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.