雪 (xuě) is a Chinese character meaning “snow”. It is written from ⻗ (rain top; the flattened form of 雨 when it sits on top of a character) and 彐 (snout radical; a three-stroke block closed on the right), one above the other, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “snow”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
⻗ + 彐
Top–bottom structure
- ⻗ rain top; the flattened form of 雨 when it sits on top of a character meaning
- 彐 snout radical; a three-stroke block closed on the right · jì simplified form
Structure from: hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（11 画：⻗8 + 彐3）；说文解字：雪，从雨彗声
Memory aid
Rain clouds (⻗) on top, and below them 彐, shaped like a flat hand with fingers held out. Rain you can catch and hold in your hand — that is snow.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 下雪xià xuěto snow雪 = xuě
- 雪花xuě huāsnowflake雪 = xuě
- 雪茄xuě jiācigar雪 = xuě
- 雪崩xuě bēngavalanche雪 = xuě
Go deeper
All readings
snow
snow; snowy white; to wipe away (a wrong or disgrace)
空中降落的白色冰晶；也比喻洁白，或指洗去（冤屈、耻辱）。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 下雪xià xuěto snow雪 = xuě
- 雪花xuě huāsnowflake雪 = xuě
- 雪茄xuě jiācigar雪 = xuě
- 雪崩xuě bēngavalanche雪 = xuě
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 雪 mean?
雪 (xuě) means snow; snowy white; to wipe away (a wrong or disgrace).
How do you pronounce 雪?
It is pronounced xuě.
What parts is 雪 made of?
⻗ (rain top; the flattened form of 雨 when it sits on top of a character) and 彐 (snout radical; a three-stroke block closed on the right), one above the other. The recorded source is: hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（11 画：⻗8 + 彐3）；说文解字：雪，从雨彗声. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 雪 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 雪?
雨. 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 雪?
Common ones are 下雪 and 雪花. The reading of 雪 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.