蚂 (mǎ): ant (in 蚂蚁)

蚂 (mǎ) is a Chinese character meaning “ant (in 蚂蚁).” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 虫 (semantic) and 马 (phonetic). It ranks #2957 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 蚂 insect. Its radical form 虫 (insect) appears in many related characters such as 虫 (chóng, insect), 蚁 (yǐ, ant (in 蚂蚁)), 蚊 (wén, mosquito).

Native pronunciation

HSK 6 Radical: 虫 insect9 strokesFrequency #2957虫 semantic 马 phonetic

Definitions

ant (in 蚂蚁)

Etymology & Origin

蚂

pictophoneticinsect

Decomposition: ⿰虫马 (layout: left-right)

Components:虫semantic 马phonetic

Stroke Order

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 蚂

Word	Pinyin	Meaning	HSK
蚂蚁noun	mǎ yǐ	ant	6

Common Compounds

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
蚂蚱	mà zha	(dialect) locust
蚂蟥	mǎ huáng	leech
一条绳上的蚂蚱	yī tiáo shéng shàng de mà zha	lit. grasshoppers tied together with a piece of string (idiom)
一根绳上的蚂蚱	yī gēn shéng shàng de mà zha	see 一條繩上的螞蚱\|一条绳上的蚂蚱[yi1 tiao2 sheng2 shang4 de5 ma4 zha5]
蚂蚱也是肉	mà zha yě shì ròu	lit. even a locust provides some nourishment (idiom)
热锅上的蚂蚁	rè guō shang de mǎ yǐ	(like) a cat on a hot tin roof
蚂蚁金服	mǎ yǐ jīn fú	Ant Financial Services Group, an affiliate company of Alibaba 阿里巴巴[A1 li3 ba1 ba1]
蚂蚁上树	mǎ yǐ shàng shù	"ants climbing a tree", a Sichuan dish made with cellophane noodles 粉絲\|粉丝[fen3 si1] and ground meat (so called becaus...
蚂蚁包	mǎ yǐ bāo	ant bite (swollen, itchy bump)
蚂螂	mā láng	dragonfly
蚂蜂	mǎ fēng	variant of 馬蜂\|马蜂[ma3 feng1]
蚂蚁腰	mǎ yǐ yāo	(coll.) tiny waist
蚂蚁窝	mǎ yǐ wō	ant nest

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

蚂 appears in 14 compound words: 79 as the first character, 0 as the last, and 21 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 蚂 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

蚁yǐ

0.8506,544 co-occurrences

窝wō

0.43084 co-occurrences

蜂fēng

0.395120 co-occurrences

虫chóng

0.36278 co-occurrences

咬yǎo

0.35742 co-occurrences

蜜mì

0.35278 co-occurrences

蜘zhī

0.34330 co-occurrences

种zhǒng

0.333456 co-occurrences

巢cháo

0.32948 co-occurrences

团tuán

0.326306 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

一群蚂蚁正在搬运一块比它们身体大好几倍的面包屑。

Yī qún mǎyǐ zhèngzài bānyùn yī kuài bǐ tāmen shēntǐ dà hǎo jǐ bèi de miànbāo xiè.

A group of ants are carrying a breadcrumb several times larger than their bodies.

InvestingMar 2026

... 耀才证券金融(01428)再涨超8% 蚂蚁收购耀才获监管批准公司近期进入港股通...

. . . yào cái zhèng quàn jīn róng ( 0 1 4 2 8 ) zài zhǎng chāo 8 mǎ yǐ shōu gòu yào cái huò jiān guǎn pī zhǔn gōng sī jìn qī jìn rù gǎng gǔ tōng . . .

... Yao Cai Securities (01428) rises over 8% again; Ant Group's acquisition of Yao Cai receives regulatory approval; the company recently joined the Stock Connect program...

大紀元 | 大紀元新聞網Mar 2026

27岁中国公民在肯尼亚出庭被控走私活蚂蚁

2 7 suì zhōng guó gōng mín zài kěn ní yà chū tíng bèi kòng zǒu sī huó mǎ yǐ

A 27-year-old Chinese citizen appeared in court in Kenya on charges of smuggling live ants

It之家Mar 2026

蚂蚁集团董事长井贤栋及夫人向母校上海交大捐...

mǎ yǐ jí tuán dǒng shì cháng jǐng xián dòng jí fū rén xiàng mǔ jiào shàng hǎi jiāo dà juān . . .

Jing Xiandong, Chairman of Ant Group, and his wife donated to his alma mater, Shanghai Jiao Tong University...

Fx168 Finance NetworkMar 2026

蚂蚁数科发力企业级AI 全新AoE框架加速...

mǎ yǐ shǔ kē fā lì qǐ yè jí A I quán xīn A o E kuàng jià jiā sù . . .

Ant Digital is making efforts to accelerate the new AoE framework of enterprise-level AI...

NewsFeb 2026

蚂蚁两 App 用户逾亿

mǎ yǐ liǎng yòng hù yú yì

Ant's two apps have more than 100 million users

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 蚂 (mǎ) mean in Chinese?

蚂 (mǎ) primarily means "ant (in 蚂蚁)." It is classified as HSK Level 6, making it an advanced character. It ranks #2957 in character frequency.

How many strokes does 蚂 have?

蚂 is written with 9 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 蚂?

The radical associated with 蚂 is 虫 (insect). This radical appears in many characters related to insect.

What are the components of 蚂?

蚂 is composed of: 虫 (semantic), 马 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰虫马 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 蚂?

Common words with 蚂 include: 蚂蚁 (mǎ yǐ, "ant"); 蚂蚱 (mà zha, "(dialect) locust"); 蚂蟥 (mǎ huáng, "leech"); 一条绳上的蚂蚱 (yī tiáo shéng shàng de mà zha, "lit. grasshoppers tied together with a piece of string (idiom)"); 一根绳上的蚂蚱 (yī gēn shéng shàng de mà zha, "see 一條繩上的螞蚱|一条绳上的蚂蚱[yi1 tiao2 sheng2 shang4 de5 ma4 zha5]"). There are over 14 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 蚂 (mǎ)?

Several characters share the pronunciation mǎ: 码 (code, yard), 骂 (to scold), 马 (horse). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 蚂 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 蚂 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 蚂 with real-time feedback

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

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