蚀 (shí) is a Chinese character meaning “to eat away”. It is written from 饣 (food radical (simplified form of 食)) and 虫 (insect; bug; worm), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “to eat away; to erode”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
饣 + 虫
Left–right structure
Structure from: modern-glyph decomposition verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke groups (radStrokes 0-2 = 饣, remaining 6 strokes = 虫)
Memory aid
The food radical 饣 on the left, a bug 虫 on the right: a bug settled next to the food and keeps nibbling. Both parts are really in this character, and together they give the idea of eating away — 蚀.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 侵蚀qīn shíto erode; erosion蚀 = shí
- 腐蚀fǔ shíto corrode; corrosion蚀 = shí
Go deeper
All readings
to erode; to corrode
to eat away; to erode; to corrode; eclipse (of the sun or moon)
一点点地损伤、消耗掉；也指日月亏缺的现象。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 侵蚀qīn shíto erode; erosion蚀 = shí
- 腐蚀fǔ shíto corrode; corrosion蚀 = shí
Sound component
食 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 蚀 mean?
蚀 (shí) means to eat away; to erode; to corrode; eclipse (of the sun or moon).
How do you pronounce 蚀?
It is pronounced shí.
What parts is 蚀 made of?
饣 (food radical (simplified form of 食)) and 虫 (insect; bug; worm), side by side. The recorded source is: modern-glyph decomposition verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke groups (radStrokes 0-2 = 饣, remaining 6 strokes = 虫). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 蚀 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 蚀?
虫. 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 蚀?
Common ones are 侵蚀 and 腐蚀. The reading of 蚀 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.