猎 (liè) is a Chinese character meaning “to hunt”. It is written from 犭 (dog / beast radical (side form of 犬)) and 昔 (former times; the past (in 借 it is the sound part)), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “to hunt”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
犭 + 昔
Left–right structure
- 犭 dog / beast radical (side form of 犬) · quǎn meaning
- 昔 former times; the past (in 借 it is the sound part) · xī simplified form
Structure from: 现代简化字形拆分（繁体作「獵」；hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：猎 11 画 = 犭 3 画 + 昔 8 画）
Memory aid
The beast radical (犭) on the left, 昔 ("former times") on the right: a hunter follows the tracks a beast left earlier. 昔 is xī and 猎 is liè — treat 昔 as a shape to remember here, not a sound hint.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 猎人liè rénhunter猎 = liè
- 打猎dǎ lièto go hunting猎 = liè
- 猎犬liè quǎnhound; hunting dog猎 = liè
- 猎豹liè bàocheetah猎 = liè
Go deeper
All readings
to hunt
to hunt; hunting
捕捉或射杀野兽；打猎。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 猎人liè rénhunter猎 = liè
- 打猎dǎ lièto go hunting猎 = liè
- 猎犬liè quǎnhound; hunting dog猎 = liè
- 猎豹liè bàocheetah猎 = liè
Easy to confuse with
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 猎 mean?
猎 (liè) means to hunt; hunting.
How do you pronounce 猎?
It is pronounced liè.
What parts is 猎 made of?
犭 (dog / beast radical (side form of 犬)) and 昔 (former times; the past (in 借 it is the sound part)), side by side. The recorded source is: 现代简化字形拆分（繁体作「獵」；hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：猎 11 画 = 犭 3 画 + 昔 8 画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 猎 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 猎?
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 猎?
Common ones are 猎人, 打猎, 猎犬, 猎豹. The reading of 猎 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.