沛 (pèi) is a Chinese character meaning “abundant”. It is written from 氵 (water (left-side form)) and 巿 (fú — a ceremonial knee-cover hung from a sash), side by side, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “abundant, flowing in full force”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
氵 + 巿
Left–right structure
- 氵 water (left-side form) · shuǐ meaning
- 巿 fú — an old word for a ceremonial knee-cover; today seen almost only as a building block · fú sound
Structure from: 说文解字·水部（沛，水。出遼東番汗塞外，西南入海。从水巿聲）；现代字形以 hanzi-writer-data 核验：7 画 = 氵 3 画 + 巿 4 画
Memory aid
Water (氵) surging past a hanging sash (巿) hard enough to blow the cloth straight out — water in full, abundant flow.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 充沛chōng pèiabundant; plentiful; full of (energy)沛 = pèi
- 丰沛fēng pèicopious; plentiful (especially of rainfall)沛 = pèi
Go deeper
All readings
abundant
abundant; copious; flowing in full force — used of water, rain and energy
充盛、盛大，多形容水势大或雨水、精力充足。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 充沛chōng pèiabundant; plentiful; full of (energy)沛 = pèi
- 丰沛fēng pèicopious; plentiful (especially of rainfall)沛 = pèi
Sound component
巿 family diverged
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 沛 mean?
沛 (pèi) means abundant; copious; flowing in full force — used of water, rain and energy.
How do you pronounce 沛?
It is pronounced pèi.
What parts is 沛 made of?
氵 (water (left-side form)) and 巿 (fú — a ceremonial knee-cover hung from a sash), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字·水部（沛，水。出遼東番汗塞外，西南入海。从水巿聲）；现代字形以 hanzi-writer-data 核验：7 画 = 氵 3 画 + 巿 4 画. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 沛 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 沛?
水. 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 沛?
Common ones are 充沛 and 丰沛. The reading of 沛 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.