麦 (mài) is a Chinese character meaning “wheat”. It is written from 龶 (three horizontal strokes crossed by a short vertical that stops at the last stroke) and 夂 (trailing foot; to go slowly), one above the other, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “wheat”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
龶 + 夂
Top–bottom structure
- 龶 three horizontal strokes crossed by a short vertical that stops at the last stroke unknown
- 夂 trailing foot; to go slowly · zhǐ unknown
Structure from: Unicode U+9EA6 modern glyph split verified against hanzi-writer-data 麦.json strokes 0–3 (龶) and 4–6 (夂)
Memory aid
龶 is the wheat stalk: three ears stacked on one stem. 夂 underneath is the foot that walks the harvest home. Both parts are really in 麦.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 小麦xiǎo màiwheat麦 = mài
- 麦子mài ziwheat (the plant or its grain)麦 = mài
- 麦秆mài gǎnwheat straw麦 = mài
- 麦垛mài duòa stack of wheat; wheat rick麦 = mài
- 麦秸mài jiēwheat straw麦 = mài
- 麦茬mài cháwheat stubble麦 = mài
Go deeper
All readings
wheat
wheat; general term for cereal crops such as wheat, barley and oats
麦子，有芒的谷类作物的统称，如小麦、大麦、燕麦。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 小麦xiǎo màiwheat麦 = mài
- 麦子mài ziwheat (the plant or its grain)麦 = mài
- 麦秆mài gǎnwheat straw麦 = mài
- 麦垛mài duòa stack of wheat; wheat rick麦 = mài
- 麦秸mài jiēwheat straw麦 = mài
- 麦茬mài cháwheat stubble麦 = mài
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 麦 mean?
麦 (mài) means wheat; general term for cereal crops such as wheat, barley and oats.
How do you pronounce 麦?
It is pronounced mài.
What parts is 麦 made of?
龶 (three horizontal strokes crossed by a short vertical that stops at the last stroke) and 夂 (trailing foot; to go slowly), one above the other. The recorded source is: Unicode U+9EA6 modern glyph split verified against hanzi-writer-data 麦.json strokes 0–3 (龶) and 4–6 (夂). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 麦 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 麦?
麦. 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 麦?
Common ones are 小麦 and 麦子. The reading of 麦 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.