埋 (mái): to bury
埋 (mái) is a Chinese character meaning “to bury.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 土 (semantic) and 里 (phonetic). It ranks #1629 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 埋 earth. Its radical form 土 (earth) appears in many related characters such as 在 (zài, to exist), 地 (dì, earth, ground), 场 (chǎng, field, place).
Definitions
- to bury
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 埋 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 埋葬verb | mái zàng | to bury |
| 埋伏verb | mái fú | to ambush |
| 活埋verb | huó mái | to bury alive |
| 埋藏verb | mái cáng | to bury |
| 埋怨verb | mán yuàn | to complain |
| 掩埋verb | yǎn mái | to bury |
| 隐姓埋名phrase | yǐn xìng mái míng | to conceal one's identity |
| 埋头verb | mái tóu | to immerse oneself in |
| 埋没verb | mái mò | to engulf |
| 埋头苦干phrase | mái tóu kǔ gàn | to bury oneself in work (idiom) |
| 打埋伏verb | dǎ mái fu | to lie in wait |
| 埋设verb | mái shè | to install (water pipes, landmines etc) underground |
| 埋天怨地 | mán tiān yuàn dì | lit. to blame the heavens and reproach the earth |
| 十面埋伏phrase | shí miàn mái fú | Ambush from Ten Sides (pipa solo piece) |
| 埋点 | mái diǎn | (web analytics) event tracking |
埋 appears in 29 compound words: 55 as the first character, 21 as the last, and 24 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 埋 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (7)
lit. to blame the heavens and reproach the earth; fig. to rave and rant
lit. to blame the heavens and reproach the earth; fig. to rave and rant
Example Sentences
这条电缆埋在地下两米深的地方，施工时要小心。
Zhè tiáo diànlǎn mái zài dìxià liǎng mǐ shēn de dìfang, shīgōng shí yào xiǎoxīn.
This cable is buried two meters underground; be careful during construction.
...人子宫下垂的治疗有哪些?分娩损伤是年轻时埋下的隐患吗
. . . rén zǐ gōng xià chuí de zhì liáo yǒu nǎ xiē ? fēn 娩 sǔn shāng shì nián qīng shí mái xià de yǐn huàn ma
... What are the treatments for human uterine ptosis? Is childbirth injury a hidden danger buried in youth?
梁靖琪43岁生日七魔女团拜带埋老公 唯独一骨干成员无影
liáng 靖 琪 4 3 suì shēng rì qī mó nǚ tuán bài dài mái lǎo gōng wéi dú yī gǔ gān chéng yuán wú yǐng
Liang Jingqi's 43rd birthday, the Seven Witches group brought her husband to bury her, but one backbone member was nowhere to be found
与亲戚饮茶遭爸爸叫扮争埋单!港男不慎争赢焗畀$1,560 呻被屈...
yǔ qīn qī yǐn chá zāo bà bà jiào bàn zhēng mái dān ! gǎng nán bù shèn zhēng yíng 焗 畀 1 , 5 6 0 shēn bèi qū . . .
Drinking tea with relatives was called by Dad to pretend to pay the bill! Hong Kong man accidentally won and was wronged for $1,560...
埋伏3小時!醫美診所負責人槍擊案 槍手超商...
mái fú xiǎo 時 ! 醫 měi 診 suǒ 負 責 rén 槍 擊 àn 槍 shǒu chāo shāng . . .
Lying in wait for 3 hours! Aesthetic clinic owner shot dead—gunman spotted at convenience store...
“儿时埋下一颗种子要为国争光”,徐梦桃五战冬奥,...
ér shí mái xià yī kē zhǒng zǐ yāo wéi guó zhēng guāng , xú mèng táo wǔ zhàn dōng ào , . . .
"A seed was planted in my childhood to fight for my country", Xu Mengtao five winter olympics,...
据说这个区域埋着财宝。
Jùshuō zhège qūyù mái zhe cáibǎo.
It is said that treasure is buried in this area.
他的埋怨没有尽头。
Tā de mányuàn méiyǒu jìntóu.
There is no end to his complaining.
我听她的埋怨听得十分厌烦。
Wǒ tīng tā de mányuàn tīng de shífēn yànfán.
I'm sick of listening to her complaints.
他们把他埋葬在教堂旁的墓园。
Tāmen bǎ tā máizàng zàijiào táng páng de mùyuán.
They buried him in the graveyard by the church.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 土 (earth) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 埋 (mái) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 埋 and 理?
How many strokes does 埋 have?
What is the radical of 埋?
What are the components of 埋?
What are common words containing 埋?
What characters sound the same as 埋 (mái)?
Is 埋 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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