葵 (kuí): used in the names of various herbaceous plants

葵 (kuí) is a Chinese character meaning “used in the names of various herbaceous plants.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 艹 (semantic) and 癸 (phonetic). It ranks #3139 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 葵 plant. Its radical form 艹 (grass) appears in many related characters such as 蒸 (zhēng, to steam), 草 (cǎo, grass), 花 (huā, flower).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. used in the names of various herbaceous plants

Etymology & Origin

葵

pictophoneticplant

Decomposition: ⿱艹癸 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
向日葵nounxiàng rì kuísunflower (Helianthus annuus)
秋葵nounqiū kuíokra (Abelmoschus esculentus)
天竺葵tiān zhú kuígeranium (Pelargonium hortorum)
蜀葵nounshǔ kuíhollyhock (Alcea rosea)
海葵nounhǎi kuísea anemone
葵花子kuí huā zǐsunflower seeds
山葵shān kuíwasabi
葵花kuí huāsunflower
黄秋葵nounhuáng qiū kuíokra (Hibiscus esculentus)
龙葵nounlóng kuíblack nightshade (Solanum nigrum)
岩沙海葵毒素yán shā hǎi kuí dú sùpalytoxin
小葵花凤头鹦鹉xiǎo kuí huā fèng tóu yīng wǔ(bird species of China) yellow-crested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea)
葵青proper-nounkuí qīngKwai Tsing district of New Territories, Hong Kong
手嶌葵shǒu dǎo kuíTESHIMA Aoi (1987-), Japanese female pop singer
秋葵荚nounqiū kuí jiáokra (Hibiscus esculentus)
21
Total compounds
29
As first character
57
As last character
14
As middle character

葵 appears in 21 compound words: 29 as the first character, 57 as the last, and 14 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 葵 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

秤chèng
0.80114 co-occurrences
涌yǒng
0.70721 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

中国新闻网·文化Sep 2026

舞剧《栋梁》在杭上演 林徽因外孙女于葵讲述家书往事

wǔ jù dòng liáng zài háng shàng yǎn lín huī yīn wài sūn nǚ yú kuí jiǎng shù jiā shū wǎng shì

The dance drama "Pillars" premieres in Hangzhou; Lin Huiyin’s granddaughter, Yu Kui, recounts memories of family letters

中国新闻网·生活Sep 2026

含落葵黏多糖和果胶,有益糖脂管理 黏多糖是一种可溶性植物纤维,果胶能增加饱腹感。

hán luò kuí nián duō táng hé guǒ jiāo , yǒu yì táng zhī guǎn lǐ nián duō táng shì yī zhǒng kě róng xìng zhí wù xiān wéi , guǒ jiāo néng zēng jiā bǎo fù gǎn .

Contains malabar spinach polysaccharides and pectin, which support healthy sugar and fat management. Polysaccharides are a type of soluble plant fiber, and pectin helps increase feelings of fullness.

少数派Aug 2026

每年向日葵结籽后,葵花籽卖了可以榨油,剩下的花饼和秸秆可以搅碎了喂牛,几乎没有废料。

měi nián xiàng rì kuí jié zǐ hòu , kuí huā zǐ mài le kě yǐ zhà yóu , shèng xià de huā bǐng hé 秸 秆 kě yǐ jiǎo suì le wèi niú , jǐ hū méi yǒu fèi liào .

Every year, after the sunflowers produce seeds, the sunflower seeds are sold to be pressed for oil, and the remaining seed cakes and stalks are chopped up to feed the cows—there is almost no waste.

少数派Aug 2026

山葵酱,用来吃三文鱼、松茸的刺身,很不错,不辣。

shān kuí jiàng , yòng lái chī sān wén yú , sōng 茸 de cì shēn , hěn bù cuò , bù là .

Wasabi sauce is great for eating with salmon and matsutake mushroom sashimi—it’s not spicy.

少数派Aug 2026

如果你非常喜欢油脂的口感,那么秋葵、山药、海带、木耳这类蔬菜也是一个很好的口感补充。

rú guǒ nǐ fēi cháng xǐ huān yóu zhī de kǒu gǎn , nà me qiū kuí , shān yào , hǎi dài , mù ěr zhè lèi shū cài yě shì yī gè hěn hǎo de kǒu gǎn bǔ chōng .

If you really enjoy the rich, creamy texture of fatty foods, vegetables like okra, Chinese yam, kelp, and wood ear mushrooms are also great for adding that texture to your meals.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 艹 (plant) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced kuí

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 葵 (kuí) mean in Chinese?
葵 (kuí) primarily means "used in the names of various herbaceous plants." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #3139 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 葵 have?
葵 is written with 12 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 葵?
The radical associated with 葵 is 艹 (grass). This radical appears in many characters related to grass.
What are the components of 葵?
葵 is composed of: 艹 (semantic), 癸 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱艹癸 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 葵?
Common words with 葵 include: 向日葵 (xiàng rì kuí, "sunflower (Helianthus annuus)"); 秋葵 (qiū kuí, "okra (Abelmoschus esculentus)"); 天竺葵 (tiān zhú kuí, "geranium (Pelargonium hortorum)"); 蜀葵 (shǔ kuí, "hollyhock (Alcea rosea)"); 海葵 (hǎi kuí, "sea anemone"). There are over 21 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 葵 (kuí)?
Several characters share the pronunciation kuí: 揆 (consider). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 葵 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 葵 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 葵 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.