(): uncooked rice, meter (unit of length), (slang) Chinese yuan

() is a Chinese character meaning “uncooked rice.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (structural) and (structural). It ranks #575 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically pictographic, grains of rice. Its radical form (rice) appears in many related characters such as (lèi, kind), (jīng, essence), (táng, sugar).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. uncooked rice
  2. meter (unit of length)
  3. (slang) Chinese yuan

Etymology & Origin

pictographicGrains of rice

Decomposition: ⿻丷木 (layout: overlay)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
nounyù mǐcorn5
measureháo mǐmillimeter6
measurelí mǐcentimeter5
nounmǐ fàn(cooked) rice1
noundà mǐ(husked) rice5
measurepíng fāng mǐsquare meter6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
mǐ qíMickey or Mitch (name)
jí mǐJimmy, Jimmie or Jimi (name)
bào mǐ huāpuffed rice
nà mǐnanometer
jié mǐ(name) Jamie
mǐ lánMilano
duō mǐ nuò(loanword) domino
xiā mǐsmall shrimp
mǐ géMiG
mǐ jiǔrice wine
āi mǐ ěr(loanword) emir
jié lǐ mǐJeremy (name)
mǐ luóJoan Miró (1893-1983), Spanish surrealist painter
mǐ lāMira (red giant star, Omicron Ceti)
huā shēng mǐshelled peanuts
100
Total compounds
32
As first character
57
As last character
11
As middle character

appears in 100 compound words: 32 as the first character, 57 as the last, and 11 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.

háo
0.744441,504 co-occurrences
qiān
0.738875,592 co-occurrences
0.671136,560 co-occurrences
píng
0.6331,012,416 co-occurrences
fāng
0.6091,056,438 co-occurrences
kuān
0.56497,308 co-occurrences
yǒng
0.52868,502 co-occurrences
xiē
0.49127,228 co-occurrences
0.472179,220 co-occurrences
lěi
0.46312 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (11)

bǎi mǐ sài pǎoHSK 3+

100-meter dash

phrase
BōxīmǐyàHSK 7+

Bohemia (a cultural region in the west of the former Czechoslovakia and present-day Czech Republic)

cháimǐyóuyánHSK 6+

alternative form of 柴米油鹽醬醋茶 /柴米油盐酱醋茶 (chái mǐ yóu yán jiàng cù chá)

phrase
jīluómǐtūHSK 7+

kilometre (unit of length)

líng zá mǐ yánHSK 4+

disordered and fragmentary

phrase
Mǐqí LǎoshǔHSK 5+

Mickey Mouse

mǐyǐchéngchuīHSK 7+

the die is cast; what's done is done

phrase
NíxīmǐjìHSK 7+

Nehemiah (book of the Bible)

Tàimǐ'ěryǔHSK 7+

Tamil (language)

chuī kāng jiàn mǐHSK 4+

instant results; lit. blow the husk and see the rice

phrase

Showing 10 of 11 idioms containing .

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个字在古汉语中有不同的含义。

zhè gě mǐ zì zài gǔ hàn yǔ zhōng yǒu bù tóng de hán yì .

This character "米" had different meanings in ancient Chinese.

WorldjournalFeb 2026

兰大教堂雕像 赞助修复便可有条件借展

mǐ lán dà jiào táng diāo xiàng zàn zhù xiū fù biàn kě yǒu tiáo jiàn jiè zhǎn

Statues of Milan Cathedral can be loaned conditionally if they sponsor the restoration

中国新闻网_梳理天下新闻Feb 2026

2026年兰-科尔蒂纳冬奥会闭幕式正式开始

2 0 2 6 nián mǐ lán kē ěr dì nà dōng ào huì bì mù shì zhèng shì kāi shǐ

The closing ceremony of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics has officially begun

百度新闻Feb 2026

微视频|冀望兰·一封家书——致河北运动员何凯乐

wēi shì pín 冀 wàng mǐ lán yī fēng jiā shū — — zhì hé běi yùn dòng yuán hé kǎi lè

Micro video|Hope Milan A letter from home - to Hebei athlete He Kaile

百度新闻Feb 2026

兰冬奥|有爱人也有惺惺相惜的对手,王心迪...

mǐ lán dōng ào yǒu ài rén yě yǒu 惺 惺 xiāng xī de duì shǒu , wáng xīn dí . . .

Milan Winter Olympics|There are lovers and opponents who cherish each other, Wang Xindi...

百度新闻Feb 2026

兰,冰雪赛场藏着中国式浪漫

zài mǐ lán , bīng xuě sài chǎng zàng zhe zhōng guó shì làng màn

In Milan, the ice and snow arena hides Chinese romance

Tatoeba

在你们国家吃饭吗?

Zài nǐmen guójiā chī mǐfàn ma?

Do you eat rice in your country?

Tatoeba

在您国家的人是吃饭的吗?

Zài nín guójiā de rén shì chī mǐfàn de ma?

Do people in your country eat rice?

Tatoeba

你比较喜欢哪一个,饭还是面包?

Nǐ bǐjiào xǐhuan nǎyīge, mǐfàn háishi miànbāo?

Which do you prefer, rice or bread?

Tatoeba

你用汤匙吃过饭吗?

Nǐ yòng tāngchí chī guo mǐfàn ma?

Do you ever eat rice with a spoon?

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 米 (mǐ) mean in Chinese?
米 (mǐ) primarily means "uncooked rice." It is classified as HSK Level 1, making it a beginner-level character. It ranks #575 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 米 have?
米 is written with 6 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 米?
The radical associated with 米 is 米 (rice). This radical appears in many characters related to rice.
What are the components of 米?
米 is composed of: 丷 (structural), 木 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿻丷木 with a overlay layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 米?
Common words with 米 include: 玉米 (yù mǐ, "corn"); 米奇 (mǐ qí, "Mickey or Mitch (name)"); 吉米 (jí mǐ, "Jimmy, Jimmie or Jimi (name)"); 爆米花 (bào mǐ huā, "puffed rice"); 毫米 (háo mǐ, "millimeter"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 米 (mǐ)?
Several characters share the pronunciation mǐ: 弥 (full), 迷 (lost, fascinated), 觅 ((literary) to seek), 秘 (see 秘魯|秘鲁), and 2 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 米 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 米 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.