萎 (wěi) is a Chinese character meaning “to wither”. It is written from 艹 (grass / plant radical) and 委 (to entrust; to appoint), one above the other, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “to wither”
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Structure
艹 + 委
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: 说文解字（萎：从艸，委声）；IDS ⿱艹委（现代字形拆分，与 hanzi-writer-data 笔画 0–2 / 3–10 核对）
Memory aid
Plants (艹) on top, 委 (wěi) underneath lending its sound. When the plants go wěi, they wilt and droop — as in 枯萎 "to wither".
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 枯萎kū wěito wither; to wilt萎 = wěi
- 萎缩wěi suōto shrink; to wither; to atrophy萎 = wěi
Go deeper
All readings
to wither
to wither; to wilt; to shrink; to decline
草木干枯凋谢；也指衰退、萎缩。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 枯萎kū wěito wither; to wilt萎 = wěi
- 萎缩wěi suōto shrink; to wither; to atrophy萎 = wěi
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 萎 mean?
萎 (wěi) means to wither; to wilt; to shrink; to decline.
How do you pronounce 萎?
It is pronounced wěi.
What parts is 萎 made of?
艹 (grass / plant radical) and 委 (to entrust; to appoint), one above the other. The recorded source is: 说文解字（萎：从艸，委声）；IDS ⿱艹委（现代字形拆分，与 hanzi-writer-data 笔画 0–2 / 3–10 核对）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 萎 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 萎?
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 萎?
Common ones are 枯萎 and 萎缩. The reading of 萎 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.