廖 (liào): surname Liao

廖 (liào) is a Chinese character meaning “surname liao.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 广 (structural) and 翏 (structural). It ranks #4740 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 廖 the wind 翏 blowing over a vast, empty plain 广. Its radical form 广 (shelter) appears in many related characters such as 店 (diàn, shop), 度 (dù, degree, to measure), 座 (zuò, seat).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. surname Liao

Etymology & Origin

廖

ideographicThe wind 翏 blowing over a vast, empty plain 广

Decomposition: ⿸广翏 (layout: surround-from-upper-left)

Stroke Order

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

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
廖沫沙liào mò shāLiao Mosha (1907-1990), journalist and communist propagandist, severely criticized and imprisoned for 10 years during...
1
Total compounds
100
As first character
0
As last character
0
As middle character

廖 appears in 1 compound words: 100 as the first character, 0 as the last, and 0 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Example Sentences

中国新闻网·文化Sep 2026

廖昌永表示,成都的音乐氛围这些年越来越浓厚,高雅艺术正一步步走进市民家门口。

liào chāng yǒng biǎo shì , chéng dōu de yīn lè fēn wéi zhè xiē nián yuè lái yuè nóng hòu , gāo yǎ yì shù zhèng yī bù bù zǒu jìn shì mín jiā mén kǒu .

Liao Changyong noted that Chengdu’s music scene has grown increasingly vibrant in recent years, and the performing arts are gradually becoming more accessible to residents.

中国新闻网·体育Sep 2026

本场比赛,中国队派出廖三宁、庞峥麟、王俊杰、胡金秋和崔永熙的首发阵容。

běn chǎng bǐ sài , zhōng guó duì pài chū liào sān níng , páng 峥 lín , wáng jùn jié , hú jīn qiū hé cuī yǒng xī de shǒu fā zhèn róng .

In this game, the Chinese team fielded a starting lineup of Liao Sanning, Pang Zhenglin, Wang Junjie, Hu Jinqiu, and Cui Yongxi.

中国新闻网·体育Sep 2026

第34分钟,梅州队球员柯俊杰与廖彬铎打出精妙配合抢点破门,扳平比分。

dì 3 4 fēn zhōng , méi zhōu duì qiú yuán kē jùn jié yǔ liào bīn 铎 dǎ chū jīng miào pèi hé qiǎng diǎn pò mén , bān píng bǐ fēn .

In the 34th minute, Meizhou player Ke Junjie and Liao Bindo executed a brilliant give-and-go play, with Ke Junjie finishing at the near post to tie the score.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

经讯问,以李某、廖某为首的团伙对违法犯罪事实供认不讳,案件正在进一步侦办中。

jīng xùn wèn , yǐ lǐ mǒu , liào mǒu wéi shǒu de tuán huǒ duì wéi fǎ fàn zuì shì shí gōng rèn bù huì , àn jiàn zhèng zài jìn yī bù zhēn bàn zhōng .

Upon interrogation, the gang led by Li and Liao fully confessed to the criminal acts; the case is currently under further investigation.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

廖昌永表示,在长征出发地演出,既是一场艺术呈现,更是一次红色基因的接力。

liào chāng yǒng biǎo shì , zài cháng zhēng chū fā dì yǎn chū , jì shì yī chǎng yì shù chéng xiàn , gèng shì yī cì hóng sè jī yīn de jiē lì .

Liao Changyong said that performing at the starting point of the Long March is not only an artistic presentation but also a passing of the torch of the revolutionary spirit.

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 廖 (liào) mean in Chinese?
廖 (liào) primarily means "surname liao." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #4740 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 廖 have?
廖 is written with 14 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 廖?
The radical associated with 廖 is 广 (shelter). This radical appears in many characters related to shelter.
What are the components of 廖?
廖 is composed of: 广 (structural), 翏 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿸广翏 with a surround-from-upper-left layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 廖?
Common words with 廖 include: 廖沫沙 (liào mò shā, "Liao Mosha (1907-1990), journalist and communist propagandist, severely criticized and imprisoned for 10 years during..."). There are over 1 compound words containing this character.
Is 廖 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 廖 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 廖 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.