(mài): arteries and veins, vein (on a leaf, insect wing etc), see 脈脈|脉脉

(mài) is a Chinese character meaning “arteries and veins.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (structural) and (structural). It ranks #1583 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, long 永 vessels through one's body ⺼. Its radical form (meat) appears in many related characters such as (ròu, meat), (néng, can), (bèi, the back of a body or object).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. arteries and veins
  2. vein (on a leaf, insect wing etc)
  3. see 脈脈|脉脉

Etymology & Origin

ideographicLong 永 vessels through one's body ⺼

Decomposition: ⿰⺼永 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
mài bópulse (both medical and figurative)
dòng màiartery
jìng màivein
dòng mài liúaneurysm
mài chōngpulse (physics)
shān màimountain range
xuè màiblood vessels
lái lóng qù màilit. the rise and fall of the terrain (idiom)
zhǔ dòng màiaorta
dà dòng màimain artery (blood vessel)
guān zhuàng dòng màicoronary artery
fèi dòng màipulmonary artery
mìng màilifeline
dòng mài yìng huàhardening of the arteries
jīng màichannel of TCM
100
Total compounds
19
As first character
64
As last character
17
As middle character

appears in 100 compound words: 19 as the first character, 64 as the last, and 17 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

jìng
0.61211,160 co-occurrences
chōng
0.59413,956 co-occurrences
shān
0.53048,891 co-occurrences
jǐng
0.5281,854 co-occurrences
dòng
0.50126,106 co-occurrences
0.4981,295 co-occurrences
shuān
0.484894 co-occurrences
bàn
0.461966 co-occurrences
zhōu
0.448444 co-occurrences
jiā
0.439852 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (13)

ān nán shān màiHSK 7+

Annamite Range, aka Annamese Cordillera, mountain range forming the border between Vietnam and Laos

phrase
dòngmài yìnghuàHSK 7+

arteriosclerosis

noun
guānzhuàng dòngmàiHSK 7+

coronary artery

noun
hánqíngmòmòHSK 7+

full of tender affection, (eyes) exuding tenderness and love

phrase
Héngduàn ShānmàiHSK 7+

Hengduan Mountains

jìngmài qūzhāngHSK 7+

varicose vein

noun
jìng mài zhù rùHSK 7+

intravenous (medicine)

phrase
jìngmài zhùshèHSK 7+

to inject intravenously

verb
láilóngqùmàiHSK 7+

origin and development; the entire process; sequence of events; ins and outs

phrase
shí èr jīng màiHSK 7+

twelve channels of TCM

phrase
yīmàixiāngchéngHSK 7+

to come down in one continuous line; can be traced to the same origin

phrase
kūn lún shān màiHSK 7+

Kunlun Mountain range

phrase

Showing 12 of 13 idioms containing .

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

我在字典里查到了字的详细解释。

wǒ zài zì diǎn lǐ chá dào le mài zì de xiáng xì xiè shì .

I looked up the detailed explanation of the character "脉" in the dictionary.

99 健康网Feb 2026

男性生殖怎么检查?阴囊彩超能发现精索静曲张吗

nán xìng shēng zhí zěn má jiǎn chá ? yīn náng cǎi chāo néng fā xiàn jīng suǒ jìng mài qū zhāng ma

How to check male reproduction? Can scrotal color ultrasound detect varicocele?

99 健康网Feb 2026

...孕药的副作用和危害大吗?长期服用会增加静血栓风险吗

. . . yùn yào de fù zuò yòng hé wēi hài dà ma ? cháng qī fú yòng huì zēng jiā jìng mài xiě shuān fēng xiǎn ma

... Are the side effects and harms of pregnancy pills great? Does long-term use increase the risk of venous thrombosis?

中国军网Feb 2026

返回汉字故乡,朝觐文化根,一窥中华文明精神本原

fǎn huí hàn zì gù xiāng , cháo 觐 wén huà gēn mài , yī kuī zhōng huá wén míng jīng shén běn yuán

Return to the hometown of Chinese characters, make a pilgrimage to the cultural roots, and get a glimpse of the spiritual origin of Chinese civilization

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

遍布微软高层 艾普斯坦“藉此打进科技界名...

rén mài biàn bù wēi ruǎn gāo céng ài pǔ sī tǎn 藉 cǐ dǎ jìn kē jì jiè míng . . .

Contacts all over Microsoft's top management Epstein "used this to break into the technology world...

百度新闻Feb 2026

新春走基层|湾区“动”守夜人的别样新春

xīn chūn zǒu jī céng wān qū dòng mài shǒu yè rén de bié yàng xīn chūn

New Year at the grassroots level|A different New Year for the "artery" night watchmen in the Bay Area

Tatoeba

这是阿尔卑斯山最高的山峰之一。

Zhè shì ā'ěrbēisī shānmài zuì gāo de shānfēng zhīyī.

It's among the highest mountains in the Alps.

Tatoeba

阿尔卑斯山义大利一侧的海拔通常较低。

ā'ěrbēisī shānmài Yìdàlì yī cè de hǎibá tōngcháng jiào dī.

The Alps are generally lower on the Italian side.

Tatoeba

阿尔卑斯山横跨八个欧洲国家。

ā'ěrbēisī shānmài héngkuà bā gè ōuzhōu guójiā.

The Alps extend across eight European countries.

Tatoeba

喜马拉雅山是位于亚洲大陆的山

Xǐmǎlāyǎshānmài shì wèiyú Yàzhōu dàlù de shānmài.

The Himalayas are a mountain range located on the Asian continent.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced mài

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 脉 (mài) mean in Chinese?
脉 (mài) primarily means "arteries and veins." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #1583 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 脉 have?
脉 is written with 11 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 脉?
The radical associated with 脉 is 肉 (meat). This radical appears in many characters related to meat.
What are the components of 脉?
脉 is composed of: ⺼ (structural), 永 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰⺼永 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 脉?
Common words with 脉 include: 脉搏 (mài bó, "pulse (both medical and figurative)"); 动脉 (dòng mài, "artery"); 静脉 (jìng mài, "vein"); 动脉瘤 (dòng mài liú, "aneurysm"); 脉冲 (mài chōng, "pulse (physics)"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 脉 (mài)?
Several characters share the pronunciation mài: 埋 (to bury), 买 (to buy), 迈 (to take a step), 麦 (wheat), and 1 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 脉 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 脉 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native 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.