狱 (yù) is a Chinese character meaning “prison”. It is written from 犭 (dog / beast radical (side form of 犬)) and 讠 (speech radical) and 犬 (dog), and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “prison”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
犭 + 讠 + 犬
Left–middle–right structure
- 犭 dog / beast radical (side form of 犬) · quǎn meaning
- 讠 speech radical · yán meaning
- 犬 dog · quǎn meaning
Structure from: 说文解字·㹜部（獄，确也。从㹜从言。二犬所以守也）；现代简化字形以 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 核验：9 画 = 犭 3 画 + 讠 2 画 + 犬 4 画，笔画分段与三段左中右分布一致
Memory aid
A dog on the left (犭) and a dog on the right (犬), with words (讠) trapped in between: the two sides argue, the guard dogs watch, and someone ends up in prison.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 监狱jiān yùprison; jail狱 = yù
- 地狱dì yùhell; the underworld狱 = yù
Go deeper
All readings
prison
prison; jail; lawsuit; court case
关押犯人的地方；也指诉讼、官司。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 监狱jiān yùprison; jail狱 = yù
- 地狱dì yùhell; the underworld狱 = yù
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 狱 mean?
狱 (yù) means prison; jail; lawsuit; court case.
How do you pronounce 狱?
It is pronounced yù.
What parts is 狱 made of?
犭 (dog / beast radical (side form of 犬)) and 讠 (speech radical) and 犬 (dog). The recorded source is: 说文解字·㹜部（獄，确也。从㹜从言。二犬所以守也）；现代简化字形以 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 核验：9 画 = 犭 3 画 + 讠 2 画 + 犬 4 画，笔画分段与三段左中右分布一致. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 狱 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 狱?
犬. 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 狱?
Common ones are 监狱 and 地狱. The reading of 狱 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.