饲 (sì) is a Chinese character meaning “to feed or rear animals”. It is written from 饣 (food radical (simplified form of 食)) and 司 (to take charge of; to manage; a department), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “to feed (animals)”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
饣 + 司
Left–right structure
- 饣 food radical (simplified form of 食) · shí meaning
- 司 to take charge of; to manage; a department · sī sound
Structure from: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分（对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画：饣 3 画 + 司 5 画 = 8 画）
Memory aid
The food radical 饣 stands on the left, and 司 "to take charge of" on the right: someone takes charge of the food — measuring it out to the animals. 司 also carries the sound: sī gives you sì.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 饲料sì liàoanimal feed; fodder饲 = sì
- 饲养sì yǎngto raise (animals); to rear; to keep (livestock)饲 = sì
Go deeper
All readings
to feed (animals)
to feed or rear animals; to keep livestock
喂养动物；饲养家畜、家禽。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 饲料sì liàoanimal feed; fodder饲 = sì
- 饲养sì yǎngto raise (animals); to rear; to keep (livestock)饲 = sì
Sound component
司 family tone diff
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 饲 mean?
饲 (sì) means to feed or rear animals; to keep livestock.
How do you pronounce 饲?
It is pronounced sì.
What parts is 饲 made of?
饣 (food radical (simplified form of 食)) and 司 (to take charge of; to manage; a department), side by side. The recorded source is: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分（对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画：饣 3 画 + 司 5 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 饲 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 饲?
饣. 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 饲?
Common ones are 饲料 and 饲养. The reading of 饲 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.