陶 (táo) is a Chinese character meaning “pottery”. It is written from 阝 (left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑)) and 匋 (earthenware; pottery (a wrap 勹 around a vessel 缶)), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “pottery”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
阝 + 匋
Left–right structure
- 阝 left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑) · fù meaning
- 匋 earthenware; pottery (a wrap 勹 around a vessel 缶) · táo sound
Structure from: 说文解字: 陶，再成丘也……从𨸏匋声
Memory aid
Beside a mound of earth (阝) sits earthenware (匋), which also gives the sound táo. Dig clay from the mound, shape it, and you get pottery.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 陶瓷táo cíceramics; pottery and porcelain陶 = táo
- 陶冶táo yěto mould; to cultivate (a person's character)陶 = táo
Go deeper
All readings
pottery
pottery; earthenware; to make pottery; to cultivate (character); contented
用黏土烧制的器物；制作陶器；比喻培养、造就；快乐的样子。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 陶瓷táo cíceramics; pottery and porcelain陶 = táo
- 陶冶táo yěto mould; to cultivate (a person's character)陶 = táo
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 陶 mean?
陶 (táo) means pottery; earthenware; to make pottery; to cultivate (character); contented.
How do you pronounce 陶?
It is pronounced táo.
What parts is 陶 made of?
阝 (left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑)) and 匋 (earthenware; pottery (a wrap 勹 around a vessel 缶)), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 陶，再成丘也……从𨸏匋声. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 陶 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 陶?
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 陶?
Common ones are 陶瓷 and 陶冶. The reading of 陶 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.