藕 (ǒu): root of lotus

藕 (ǒu) is a Chinese character meaning “root of lotus.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 艹 (semantic) and 耦 (phonetic). It ranks #4163 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 藕 plant. Its radical form 艹 (grass) appears in many related characters such as 蒸 (zhēng, to steam), 草 (cǎo, grass), 花 (huā, flower).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. root of lotus

Etymology & Origin

藕

pictophoneticplant

Decomposition: ⿱艹耦 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
莲藕nounlián ǒulotus root
藕断丝连ǒu duàn sī liánlit. lotus roots may break, but the fiber remains joined (idiom)
抛生藕verbpāo shēng ǒu(Cantonese) (of a woman) to direct a coquettish look, comment or gesture at a guy
吃藕adjectivechī ǒu(slang) unattractive
4
Total compounds
25
As first character
75
As last character
0
As middle character

藕 appears in 4 compound words: 25 as the first character, 75 as the last, and 0 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

藕断丝连ǒu duàn sī lián

lit. lotus roots may break, but the fiber remains joined (idiom); lovers part, but still long for one another

phrase

Example Sentences

中国新闻网·文化Sep 2026

从八月初一开始,内市就已有月饼售卖,同时还售卖西瓜、鲜藕等时令鲜果。

cóng bā yuè chū yī kāi shǐ , nèi shì jiù yǐ yǒu yuè bǐng shòu mài , tóng shí hái shòu mài xī guā , xiān ǒu děng shí lìng xiān guǒ .

Starting on the first day of the eighth lunar month, mooncakes have been on sale at the local market, along with seasonal fruits such as watermelon and fresh lotus root.

中国新闻网·生活Sep 2026

资料图:图为采收的莲藕。

zī liào tú : tú wéi cǎi shōu de lián ǒu .

File photo: The photo shows harvested lotus roots.

中国新闻网·生活Sep 2026

洪湖是湖北省的第一大淡水湖,洪湖莲藕、洪湖小龙虾都十分美味,这里的大闸蟹更是一绝。

hóng hú shì hú běi shěng de dì yī dà dàn shuǐ hú , hóng hú lián ǒu , hóng hú xiǎo lóng xiā dōu shí fēn měi wèi , zhè lǐ de dà zhá xiè gèng shì yī jué .

Honghu is the largest freshwater lake in Hubei Province. Honghu lotus roots and Honghu crayfish are both delicious, and the hairy crabs here are truly exceptional.

中国新闻网·生活Jul 2026

姜片虫 藏身于菱角、荸荠(马蹄)、莲藕等水生植物表面。

jiāng piàn chóng zàng shēn yú 菱 jiǎo , 荸 荠 ( mǎ tí ) , lián ǒu děng shuǐ shēng zhí wù biǎo miàn .

The ginger fluke hides on the surfaces of aquatic plants such as water chestnuts, water caltrop, and lotus root.

中国新闻网·生活Jul 2026

俗话说“小暑吃三宝,入伏没烦恼”,这三宝便是黄鳝、莲藕和绿豆芽。

sú huà shuō xiǎo shǔ chī sān bǎo , rù fú méi fán nǎo , zhè sān bǎo biàn shì huáng 鳝 , lián ǒu hé lǜ dòu yá .

As the saying goes, “Eat the three treasures during Minor Heat, and you’ll have no worries when the dog days begin.” These three treasures are eel, lotus root, and mung bean sprouts.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 艹 (plant) component

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 藕 (ǒu) mean in Chinese?
藕 (ǒu) primarily means "root of lotus." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #4163 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 藕 have?
藕 is written with 18 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 藕?
The radical associated with 藕 is 艹 (grass). This radical appears in many characters related to grass.
What are the components of 藕?
藕 is composed of: 艹 (semantic), 耦 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱艹耦 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 藕?
Common words with 藕 include: 莲藕 (lián ǒu, "lotus root"); 藕断丝连 (ǒu duàn sī lián, "lit. lotus roots may break, but the fiber remains joined (idiom)"); 抛生藕 (pāo shēng ǒu, "(Cantonese) (of a woman) to direct a coquettish look, comment or gesture at a guy"); 吃藕 (chī ǒu, "(slang) unattractive"). There are over 4 compound words containing this character.
Is 藕 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 藕 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 藕 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.