桔 (jú) is a Chinese character meaning “tangerine”. It is written from 木 (tree; wood) and 吉 (auspicious; lucky), side by side, and takes 10 strokes. It has a second reading, jié, which turns up in 桔梗 — here the two readings are two separate things to learn, not one card with two answers.
Build the character for “tangerine”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
木 + 吉
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字（桔，桔梗，藥名。从木吉聲）；现代字形对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：木 4 画 + 吉 6 画 = 10 画
Memory aid
A tree (木) that bears lucky (吉) fruit — think of the little orange tangerines people give as lucky gifts.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 桔子jú zǐtangerine; mandarin orange桔 = júspoken asjú zi
Go deeper
All readings
tangerine
tangerine; mandarin orange (common form of 橘)
同「橘」，常用于「桔子」，指柑橘类水果。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 桔子jú zǐtangerine; mandarin orange桔 = júspoken asjú zi
platycodon (in 桔梗)
used in 桔梗 jiégěng, the balloon flower (platycodon), a medicinal herb
用于「桔梗」，一种草本植物，根可入药。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 桔梗jié gěngballoon flower; platycodon (medicinal herb)桔 = jié
Sound component
吉 family
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 桔 mean?
桔 (jú) means tangerine; mandarin orange (common form of 橘).
How do you pronounce 桔?
Its main reading is jú. It also has a second reading, jié, which only shows up in certain words such as 桔梗 — so the word tells you the reading, not the character on its own.
Why is 桔 sometimes pronounced jié?
Because it is a multi-reading character: each reading carries a different sense, and the word decides which one applies. In 桔梗 it is read jié.
What parts is 桔 made of?
木 (tree; wood) and 吉 (auspicious; lucky), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字（桔，桔梗，藥名。从木吉聲）；现代字形对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：木 4 画 + 吉 6 画 = 10 画. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 桔 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 桔?
木. 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 桔?
Common ones are 桔子. The reading of 桔 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.