郊 (jiāo) is a Chinese character meaning “the area just outside a city”. It is written from 交 (to cross; to hand over; to intersect) and 阝 (left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑)), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “outskirts”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
交 + 阝
Left–right structure
- 交 to cross; to hand over; to intersect · jiāo sound
- 阝 left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑) · fù meaning
Structure from: 说文解字：郊，距國百里爲郊。从邑交聲。现代字形按 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（交6 + 阝2 = 8 笔）
Memory aid
交 (jiāo) on the left just tells you the sound. 阝 on the right is the city. Where the sound jiāo meets the city — that is 郊, the edge of town.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 郊区jiāo qūsuburbs; suburban district; outskirts of a city郊 = jiāo
- 郊外jiāo wàithe countryside just outside a city; the outskirts郊 = jiāo
Go deeper
All readings
outskirts
the area just outside a city; outskirts; suburbs
城市外围的地方；城外。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 郊区jiāo qūsuburbs; suburban district; outskirts of a city郊 = jiāo
- 郊外jiāo wàithe countryside just outside a city; the outskirts郊 = jiāo
Origin
A phono-semantic compound: 邑 (written 阝 on the right) marks a settlement or walled city, and 交 supplies the sound jiāo. 郊 named the land lying outside the city wall.
Source: 说文解字：郊，距國百里爲郊。从邑交聲。
Sound component
交 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 郊 mean?
郊 (jiāo) means the area just outside a city; outskirts; suburbs.
How do you pronounce 郊?
It is pronounced jiāo.
What parts is 郊 made of?
交 (to cross; to hand over; to intersect) and 阝 (left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑)), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字：郊，距國百里爲郊。从邑交聲。现代字形按 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（交6 + 阝2 = 8 笔）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 郊 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 郊?
邑. 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 郊?
Common ones are 郊区 and 郊外. The reading of 郊 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.