陌 (mò) is a Chinese character meaning “a raised path running east–west between fields”. It is written from 阝 (left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑)) and 百 (hundred), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “a path between fields; unfamiliar”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
阝 + 百
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字·𨸏部：陌，路东西为陌，南北为阡。从𨸏百声（笔画核对：阝2画 + 百6画 = 8画）
Memory aid
阝 on the left is a bank of piled earth; 百 on the right is "a hundred". Picture a hundred earth banks walling off the fields — the narrow dirt path squeezed between them is 陌, and a path you have never walked is 陌生, unfamiliar.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 陌生mò shēngunfamiliar; strange陌 = mòHSK 4
- 陌生人mò shēng rénstranger陌 = mòHSK 4
Go deeper
All readings
path between fields; unfamiliar
a raised path running east–west between fields; by extension, unfamiliar or strange (mainly seen today in 陌生)
田间东西方向的小路；引申指不熟悉、没有接触过的。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 陌生mò shēngunfamiliar; strange陌 = mòHSK 4
- 陌生人mò shēng rénstranger陌 = mòHSK 4
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 陌 mean?
陌 (mò) means a raised path running east–west between fields; by extension, unfamiliar or strange (mainly seen today in 陌生).
How do you pronounce 陌?
It is pronounced mò.
What parts is 陌 made of?
阝 (left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑)) and 百 (hundred), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字·𨸏部：陌，路东西为陌，南北为阡。从𨸏百声（笔画核对：阝2画 + 百6画 = 8画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 陌 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 陌?
阜. 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 陌?
Common ones are 陌生 and 陌生人. The reading of 陌 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.