饶 (ráo) is a Chinese character meaning “rich, abundant, plentiful”. It is written from 饣 (food radical (simplified form of 食)) and 尧 (Yao (legendary sage emperor); lofty, towering), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “abundant; to spare someone”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
饣 + 尧
Left–right structure
- 饣 food radical (simplified form of 食) · shí meaning
- 尧 Yao (legendary sage emperor); lofty, towering · yáo sound
Structure from: 说文解字：饒，飽也。从食堯聲。Modern glyph split checked stroke by stroke against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 (strokes 1–3 = 饣, strokes 4–9 = 尧).
Memory aid
The food radical 饣 stands next to 尧, the ruler raised high above everyone. Food piled up that high is more than enough — plenty, and enough left over to let someone off.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 丰饶fēng ráorich and fertile; abundant饶 = ráo
- 求饶qiú ráoto beg for mercy饶 = ráo
- 饶恕ráo shùto pardon; to spare (from punishment)饶 = ráo
Go deeper
All readings
abundant; to spare
rich, abundant, plentiful; to spare or let off; to throw in extra
富足、多；宽恕、放过；额外多给。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 丰饶fēng ráorich and fertile; abundant饶 = ráo
- 求饶qiú ráoto beg for mercy饶 = ráo
- 饶恕ráo shùto pardon; to spare (from punishment)饶 = ráo
Sound component
尧 family onset shift
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 饶 mean?
饶 (ráo) means rich, abundant, plentiful; to spare or let off; to throw in extra.
How do you pronounce 饶?
It is pronounced ráo.
What parts is 饶 made of?
饣 (food radical (simplified form of 食)) and 尧 (Yao (legendary sage emperor); lofty, towering), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字：饒，飽也。从食堯聲。Modern glyph split checked stroke by stroke against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 (strokes 1–3 = 饣, strokes 4–9 = 尧).. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 饶 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 饶?
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 饶?
Common ones are 丰饶 and 求饶. The reading of 饶 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.