酒 (jiǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “alcoholic drink”. It is written from 氵 (water (left-side form)) and 酉 (wine jar; the tenth earthly branch), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “alcohol; wine”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
氵 + 酉
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字「酒，就也……从水从酉，酉亦聲」；IDS 拆分 ⿰氵酉，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「氵」三点，笔画 3–9 与「酉」逐笔对应（3+7=10画）
Memory aid
Liquid (氵) poured from a wine jar (酉): alcohol.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 喝酒hē jiǔto drink alcohol酒 = jiǔ
- 啤酒pí jiǔbeer酒 = jiǔ
- 酒吧jiǔ bābar; pub酒 = jiǔ
- 葡萄酒pú tao jiǔwine (grape wine)酒 = jiǔ
- 酗酒xù jiǔto drink excessively; heavy drinking酒 = jiǔ
Go deeper
All readings
alcohol; wine
alcoholic drink; wine; liquor
用粮食、水果等发酵制成的含乙醇的饮料。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 喝酒hē jiǔto drink alcohol酒 = jiǔ
- 啤酒pí jiǔbeer酒 = jiǔ
- 酒吧jiǔ bābar; pub酒 = jiǔ
- 葡萄酒pú tao jiǔwine (grape wine)酒 = jiǔ
- 酗酒xù jiǔto drink excessively; heavy drinking酒 = jiǔ
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 酒 mean?
酒 (jiǔ) means alcoholic drink; wine; liquor.
How do you pronounce 酒?
It is pronounced jiǔ.
What parts is 酒 made of?
氵 (water (left-side form)) and 酉 (wine jar; the tenth earthly branch), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字「酒，就也……从水从酉，酉亦聲」；IDS 拆分 ⿰氵酉，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「氵」三点，笔画 3–9 与「酉」逐笔对应（3+7=10画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 酒 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 酒?
酉. 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 酒?
Common ones are 喝酒, 啤酒, 酒吧. The reading of 酒 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.