主 (zhǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “master”. It is written from 丶 (dot stroke) and 王 (king), one above the other, and takes 5 strokes.
Build the character for “master; owner”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
丶 + 王
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: Unicode U+4E3B; modern decomposition candidate checked against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke geometry (strokes 2-5 of 主 match the four strokes of 王)
Memory aid
A single dot (丶) sits on top of 王 like the flame on a lamp — whoever is at the very top is the master.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
5 strokes
In real words
- 主人zhǔ rénhost; owner; master主 = zhǔ
- 公主gōng zhǔprincess主 = zhǔ
- 主旨zhǔ zhǐmain idea; gist; central theme主 = zhǔspoken aszhú zhǐ
- 主席zhǔ xíchairman; chairperson主 = zhǔ
Go deeper
All readings
master; owner
master; owner; host; main; principal; to be in charge of
拥有者或负责的人；也表示最重要的、主要的。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 主人zhǔ rénhost; owner; master主 = zhǔ
- 公主gōng zhǔprincess主 = zhǔ
- 主旨zhǔ zhǐmain idea; gist; central theme主 = zhǔspoken aszhú zhǐ
- 主席zhǔ xíchairman; chairperson主 = zhǔ
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 主 mean?
主 (zhǔ) means master; owner; host; main; principal; to be in charge of.
How do you pronounce 主?
It is pronounced zhǔ.
What parts is 主 made of?
丶 (dot stroke) and 王 (king), one above the other. The recorded source is: Unicode U+4E3B; modern decomposition candidate checked against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke geometry (strokes 2-5 of 主 match the four strokes of 王). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 主 have?
5. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 主?
丶. 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 主?
Common ones are 主人 and 公主. The reading of 主 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.