哩 (lǐ) is a Chinese character meaning “mile — an older written form of the unit now usually”. It is written from 口 (mouth) and 里 (inside; li (unit of distance)), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “mile (older written form)”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
口 + 里
Left–right structure
Structure from: studyhanzi 构形核验 (hanzi-writer-data 笔画分组: 口 3 画 + 里 7 画 = 10 画；右侧 里 lǐ 为声符)
Memory aid
口 (mouth) on the left, 里 (lǐ, a unit of distance) on the right. Say the distance out loud — lǐ — and you have the old written word for a mile.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 英哩yīng lǐmile (older written form; now usually written 英里)哩 = lǐ
Go deeper
All readings
mile (older written form)
mile — an older written form of the unit now usually written 英里
英制长度单位“英里”的旧写法。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 英哩yīng lǐmile (older written form; now usually written 英里)哩 = lǐ
Sound component
里 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 哩 mean?
哩 (lǐ) means mile — an older written form of the unit now usually written 英里.
How do you pronounce 哩?
It is pronounced lǐ.
What parts is 哩 made of?
口 (mouth) and 里 (inside; li (unit of distance)), side by side. The recorded source is: studyhanzi 构形核验 (hanzi-writer-data 笔画分组: 口 3 画 + 里 7 画 = 10 画；右侧 里 lǐ 为声符). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 哩 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 哩?
口. 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 哩?
Common ones are 英哩. The reading of 哩 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.