荔 (lì) is a Chinese character meaning “lychee — almost always used in the word 荔枝 (lìzhī), the”. It is written from 艹 (grass / plant radical) and 劦 (combined strength (three 力 together)), one above the other, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “lychee”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
艹 + 劦
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: 说文解字：荔，艸也。似蒲而小，根可作刷。从艸劦聲
Memory aid
Grass (艹) sitting on top of 劦 — three 力 pooling their strength. Picture a lychee branch where the fruit hangs in tight, heavy clusters that need all that strength to hold up.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 荔枝lì zhīlychee荔 = lì
Go deeper
All readings
lychee
lychee — almost always used in the word 荔枝 (lìzhī), the red-skinned southern Chinese fruit
几乎只用在「荔枝」里，指一种果皮红色、果肉白色多汁的南方水果。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 荔枝lì zhīlychee荔 = lì
Sound component
劦 family diverged
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 荔 mean?
荔 (lì) means lychee — almost always used in the word 荔枝 (lìzhī), the red-skinned southern Chinese fruit.
How do you pronounce 荔?
It is pronounced lì.
What parts is 荔 made of?
艹 (grass / plant radical) and 劦 (combined strength (three 力 together)), one above the other. The recorded source is: 说文解字：荔，艸也。似蒲而小，根可作刷。从艸劦聲. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 荔 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 荔?
艹. 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 荔?
Common ones are 荔枝. The reading of 荔 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.