橘 (jú): mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata), tangerine

橘 (jú) is a Chinese character meaning “mandarin orange (citrus reticulata).” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 木 (semantic) and 矞 (phonetic). It ranks #2944 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 橘 tree. Its radical form 木 (tree) appears in many related characters such as 本 (běn, (bound form) root), 机 (jī, machine, opportunity), 条 (tiáo, strip).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata)
  2. tangerine

Etymology & Origin

橘

pictophonetictree

Decomposition: ⿰木矞 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Practice writing 橘 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 橘

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
橘子nounjú zitangerine5

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
越橘nounyuè júcowberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea)
柑橘noungān júcitrus
橘子汁nounjú zi zhīorange juice
金橘nounjīn júkumquat
橘红nounjú hóngorange (color)
橘柑jú gāntangerine
橘子水nounjú zi shuǐorangeade
橘皮组织jú pí zǔ zhīcellulite
橘黄色nounjú huáng sètangerine yellow
烂橘子làn jú zi(slang) EA's Origin platform
橘里橘气adjectivejú lǐ jú qìlesbian-like (i.e. exhibiting lesbian traits) (coined c. 2018)
橘色nounjú sèorange (color)
橘味jú wèitangerine flavor
橘子酱jú zi jiàngorange jam
橘树jú shùorange tree
22
Total compounds
64
As first character
27
As last character
9
As middle character

橘 appears in 22 compound words: 64 as the first character, 27 as the last, and 9 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with 橘 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

婿xù
0.73214 co-occurrences
贵guì
0.51219 co-occurrences
篇piān
0.51011 co-occurrences
翘qiáo
0.486140 co-occurrences
色sè
0.4836,662 co-occurrences
阶jiē
0.46511 co-occurrences
州zhōu
0.43419 co-occurrences
秘mì
0.43011 co-occurrences
继jì
0.42011 co-occurrences
砂shā
0.40868 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这片森橘里生活着许多珍稀的野生动物。

zhè piān sēn jú lǐ shēng huó zhe xǔ duō zhēn xī de yě shēng dòng wù .

This forest is home to many rare wild animals.

UdnnewsindexMar 2026

橘世代/【关于继承──无产阶级篇】无产妈妈...

jú shì dài guān yú jì chéng wú chǎn jiē jí piān wú chǎn mā mā . . .

The Orange Generation / [On Inheritance: The Proletariat Edition] Proletarian Mom...

NewtalkMar 2026

空品连日“橘色提醒”智慧监控科技执法见成效 嘉义市获...

kōng pǐn lián rì jú sè tí xǐng zhì huì jiān kòng kē jì zhí fǎ jiàn chéng xiào jiā yì shì huò . . .

Air Quality Remains at "Orange Alert" Level for Days; Smart Monitoring and Tech-Driven Law Enforcement Show Results; Chiayi City Receives...

99 健康网Feb 2026

白人女婿吃砂糖橘吃成贵州本地人,吃砂糖橘这些健康事项要牢...

bái rén nǚ xù chī shā táng jú chī chéng guì zhōu běn dì rén , chī shā táng jú zhè xiē jiàn kāng shì xiàng yāo láo . . .

The white son-in-law eats sugar oranges and eats them as a native of Guizhou, and he eats sugar oranges and other health matters...

99 健康网Feb 2026

白人女婿吃砂糖橘吃成贵州本地人?真相揭秘:这种黄皮肤要警...

bái rén nǚ xù chī shā táng jú chī chéng guì zhōu běn dì rén ? zhēn xiāng jiē mì : zhè zhǒng huáng pí fū yāo jǐng . . .

The white son-in-law eats sugar oranges and becomes a native of Guizhou? The truth is revealed: this kind of yellow skin is a warning...

Tatoeba

喂,这橘子多少钱买一斤啊?

Wèi, zhè júzi duōshao qián mǎi yī jīn ā?

Hey, how much does one pound of these oranges cost?

Tatoeba

汤姆吃了多少橘子?

Tāngmǔ chī le duōshao júzi?

How many oranges did Tom eat?

Tatoeba

你最喜欢苹果、橘子还是葡萄?

Nǐ zuì xǐhuan píngguǒ, júzi háishi pútao?

Which do you like best, apples, oranges or grapes?

Tatoeba

橘子在温暖的地方生长。

Júzi zài wēnnuǎn de dìfang shēngzhǎng.

Oranges grow in warm countries.

Tatoeba

我吃掉了我所有的橘子。

Wǒ chīdiào le wǒ suǒyǒu de júzi.

I ate all my oranges.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 木 (tree) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced jú

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 橘 (jú) mean in Chinese?
橘 (jú) primarily means "mandarin orange (citrus reticulata)." It is classified as HSK Level 5, making it an advanced character. It ranks #2944 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 橘 have?
橘 is written with 16 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 橘?
The radical associated with 橘 is 木 (tree). This radical appears in many characters related to tree.
What are the components of 橘?
橘 is composed of: 木 (semantic), 矞 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰木矞 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 橘?
Common words with 橘 include: 橘子 (jú zi, "tangerine"); 越橘 (yuè jú, "cowberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea)"); 柑橘 (gān jú, "citrus"); 橘子汁 (jú zi zhī, "orange juice"); 金橘 (jīn jú, "kumquat"). There are over 22 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 橘 (jú)?
Several characters share the pronunciation jú: 据 (according to), 具 (tool), 局 (narrow), 举 (to lift), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 橘 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 橘 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 橘 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.