蚤 (zǎo) is a Chinese character meaning “flea”. It is written from 叉 (fork; cross) and 虫 (insect; bug; worm), one above the other, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “flea”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
叉 + 虫
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph stroke inspection
Memory aid
A tiny fork 叉 perched on top of a bug 虫 — picture the bug's legs snapping open like a fork as it leaps: a flea.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 跳蚤tiào zǎoflea蚤 = zǎospoken astiào zao
Go deeper
Questions people ask about this character
What does 蚤 mean?
蚤 (zǎo) means flea.
How do you pronounce 蚤?
It is pronounced zǎo.
What parts is 蚤 made of?
叉 (fork; cross) and 虫 (insect; bug; worm), one above the other. The recorded source is: hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph stroke inspection. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 蚤 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 蚤?
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 蚤?
Common ones are 跳蚤. The reading of 蚤 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.