蜡 (là): wax
蜡 (là) is a Chinese character meaning “wax.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 虫 (semantic) and 昔 (phonetic). It ranks #2484 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 蜡 insect. Its radical form 虫 (insect) appears in many related characters such as 蛋 (dàn, egg), 虽 (suī, although), 虫 (chóng, insect).
Definitions
- wax
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 蜡 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 蜡烛 | là zhú | candle |
| 蜡笔 | là bǐ | crayon |
| 蜡像 | là xiàng | waxwork |
| 打蜡 | dǎ là | to wax (a car, floor etc) |
| 蜡像馆 | là xiàng guǎn | wax museum |
| 石蜡 | shí là | paraffin wax |
| 发蜡 | fà là | pomade |
| 蜡纸 | là zhǐ | wax paper |
| 白蜡树 | bái là shù | Chinese ash (Fraxinus chinensis), whose bark, flowers and leaves are used in TCM |
| 白蜡 | bái là | white wax from Chinese white wax bug (Ericerus pela) |
| 味同嚼蜡 | wèi tóng jiáo là | lit. tastes as if one is chewing wax (idiom) |
| 蜂蜡 | fēng là | beeswax |
| 蜡台 | là tái | candlestick |
| 蜡质 | là zhì | waxiness |
| 蜡染 | là rǎn | batik (color printing on cloth using wax) |
蜡 appears in 43 compound words: 40 as the first character, 42 as the last, and 19 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 蜡 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
蜡烛在停电的时候很有用，可以提供照明。
Làzhú zài tíngdiàn de shíhou hěn yǒuyòng, kěyǐ tígōng zhàomíng.
Candles are very useful during power outages; they can provide lighting.
...市道冷清?糖水铺老板长文叹“最担心灯油火蜡都蚀埋” 惹网民热议:系餐厅搞死自己?
. . . shì dào lěng qīng ? táng shuǐ pù lǎo bǎn cháng wén tàn zuì dān xīn dēng yóu huǒ là dōu shí mái rě wǎng mín rè yì : xì cān tīng gǎo sǐ zì jǐ ?
洋白蜡花粉过敏原检测试剂盒获批上市
yáng bái là huā fěn guò mǐn yuán jiǎn cè shì jì hé huò pī shàng shì
Allergen Test Kit for White Ash Pollen Approved for Market Release
快讯/基隆民宅烈焰冲天!独居男疑点蜡烛酿灾背部烧伤
kuài xùn jī lóng mín zhái liè yàn chōng tiān ! dú jū nán yí diǎn là zhú niàng zāi bèi bù shāo shāng
Breaking News: Blaze Rages at Keelung Home! Man Living Alone Suspected of Causing Fire by Lighting Candle; Suffers Burns to Back
肌肤暗沉蜡黄还老得快?“糖化习惯”竟是胶原蛋白快速...
jī fū àn chén là huáng hái lǎo dé kuài ? táng huà xí guàn jìng shì jiāo yuán dàn bái kuài sù . . .
Is your skin looking dull, sallow, and aging prematurely? It turns out that "glycation habits" are actually causing collagen to break down rapidly...
许个愿，然后吹熄蜡烛吧。
Xǔ gè yuàn, ránhòu chuīxī làzhú ba.
Make a wish and blow out the candles.
蜡烛没有了芯，就不能算是蜡烛了。
Làzhú méiyǒu le xīn, jiù bù néng suànshì làzhú le.
A candle without a wick is no candle at all.
蜡烛出去，而不必被扑灭。
Làzhú chūqù, ér bù bì bèi pūmiè.
The candle went out instead of having been put out.
汤姆吹灭了蛋糕上的所有蜡烛。
Tāngmǔ chuī miè le dàngāo shàng de suǒyǒu làzhú.
Tom blew out all the candles on the cake.
你记得自己该买蜡烛吗？
Nǐ jìde zìjǐ gāi mǎi làzhú ma?
Did you remember that you were supposed to buy candles?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 蜡 (là) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 蜡 and 借?
How many strokes does 蜡 have?
What is the radical of 蜡?
What are the components of 蜡?
What are common words containing 蜡?
What characters sound the same as 蜡 (là)?
Is 蜡 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 蜡 with real-time feedback
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