舀 (yǎo) is a Chinese character meaning “to ladle”. It is written from 爫 (claw; a hand reaching down from above) and 臼 (mortar; a bowl-shaped vessel for pounding grain), one above the other, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “to ladle”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
爫 + 臼
Top–bottom structure
- 爫 claw; a hand reaching down from above · zhǎo meaning
- 臼 mortar; a bowl-shaped vessel for pounding grain · jiù meaning
Structure from: 说文解字（舀，抒臼也。从爪臼）
Memory aid
A hand (爫) reaches down into a mortar (臼) to scoop out what is inside — to ladle.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 舀水yǎo shuǐto ladle out water舀 = yǎospoken asyáo shuǐ
- 舀子yǎo ziladle; dipper舀 = yǎo
Go deeper
All readings
to ladle
to ladle; to scoop up (liquid)
用瓢、勺等从容器里取出液体或颗粒状的东西。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 舀水yǎo shuǐto ladle out water舀 = yǎospoken asyáo shuǐ
- 舀子yǎo ziladle; dipper舀 = yǎo
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 舀 mean?
舀 (yǎo) means to ladle; to scoop up (liquid).
How do you pronounce 舀?
It is pronounced yǎo.
What parts is 舀 made of?
爫 (claw; a hand reaching down from above) and 臼 (mortar; a bowl-shaped vessel for pounding grain), one above the other. The recorded source is: 说文解字（舀，抒臼也。从爪臼）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 舀 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 舀?
臼. 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 舀?
Common ones are 舀水 and 舀子. The reading of 舀 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.