脑 (nǎo) is a Chinese character meaning “brain”. It is written from 月 (moon; month) and 亠 (lid) and 凶 (inauspicious; fierce), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “brain”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
月 + 亠 + 凶
Left–right structure
- 月 moon; month · yuè meaning
- 亠 lid · tóu simplified form
- 凶 inauspicious; fierce · xiōng simplified form
Structure from: hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（简化字形 10 画：月4 + 亠2 + 凶4）
Memory aid
On the left, 月 stands for the body. On the right, a lid (亠) sits on top of a box marked with a cross (凶) — picture the skull capping the busy, tangled brain inside.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 电脑diàn nǎocomputer脑 = nǎo
- 大脑dà nǎobrain; cerebrum脑 = nǎo
- 绞尽脑汁jiǎo jìn nǎo zhīto rack one's brains脑 = nǎo
Go deeper
All readings
brain
brain; mind; head
头部里主管思维、感觉和运动的器官；也指思考能力。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 电脑diàn nǎocomputer脑 = nǎo
- 大脑dà nǎobrain; cerebrum脑 = nǎo
- 绞尽脑汁jiǎo jìn nǎo zhīto rack one's brains脑 = nǎo
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 脑 mean?
脑 (nǎo) means brain; mind; head.
How do you pronounce 脑?
It is pronounced nǎo.
What parts is 脑 made of?
月 (moon; month) and 亠 (lid) and 凶 (inauspicious; fierce), side by side. The recorded source is: hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（简化字形 10 画：月4 + 亠2 + 凶4）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 脑 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 脑?
月. 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 脑?
Common ones are 电脑 and 大脑. The reading of 脑 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.