庶 (shù): (bound form) ordinary, numerous

庶 (shù) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) ordinary.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 广 (structural), 廿 (structural) and 灬 (structural). It ranks #4436 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 庶 many people 灬 (twenty or more 廿) in a house 广. Its radical form 广 (shelter) appears in many related characters such as 店 (diàn, shop), 度 (dù, degree, to measure), 座 (zuò, seat).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. (bound form) ordinary
  2. numerous

Etymology & Origin

庶

ideographicMany people 灬 (twenty or more 廿) in a house 广

Decomposition: ⿸广⿱廿灬 (layout: surround-from-upper-left)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
庶民nounshù mínthe multitude of common people (in highbrow literature)
富庶adjectivefù shùpopulous and affluent
庶吉士nounshù jí shìtitle of the temporary position in the Hanlin Academy 翰林院 conferred on meritorious candidates until ...
庶出nounshù chūborn of a concubine (rather than of the wife)
庶子nounshù zǐson born of a concubine
庶几adjectiveshù jī(literary) similar
庶室shù shìconcubine
庶妻shù qīconcubine
黎庶nounlí shùpopulace
9
Total compounds
78
As first character
22
As last character
0
As middle character

庶 appears in 9 compound words: 78 as the first character, 22 as the last, and 0 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个庶字在古汉语中有不同的含义。

zhè gè shù zì zài gǔ hàn yǔ zhōng yǒu bù tóng de hán yì .

In Classical Chinese, the character "庶" has different meanings.

少数派Jul 2026

我们可以将人体的 II 型肌纤维类比为贵族战士,I 型肌纤维则是庶民劳工。

wǒ men kě yǐ jiāng rén tǐ de I I xíng jī qiàn wéi lèi bǐ wéi guì zú zhàn shì , I xíng jī qiàn wéi zé shì shù mín láo gōng .

We can compare the human body’s Type II muscle fibers to noble warriors, while Type I muscle fibers are like common laborers.

中国新闻网·文化Jul 2026

他时服以就木,庶存殁志君恩也。

tā shí fú yǐ jiù mù , shù cún 殁 zhì jūn ēn yě .

He wore it at the time of his execution, in the hope that his posthumous will might serve as a testament to the emperor’s grace.

中国新闻网·文化Apr 2026

此环节就是“纳征”,又称“纳币”,在宋代尤为隆重,富庶之家常以丰厚聘礼彰显地位。

cǐ huán jié jiù shì nà zhēng , yòu chèn nà bì , zài sòng dài yóu wéi lóng chóng , fù shù zhī jiā cháng yǐ fēng hòu pìn lǐ zhāng xiǎn dì wèi .

This part of the ceremony is called “Na Zheng,” also known as “Na Bi,” and was celebrated with particular grandeur during the Song Dynasty; wealthy families often used lavish betrothal gifts to demonstrate their status.

NewtalkMar 2026

...韧性警讯!吴宗学吁中央地方联手稳物价、护庶民

. . . rèn xìng jǐng xùn ! wú zōng xué xū zhōng yāng dì fāng lián shǒu wěn wù jià , hù shù mín

...A warning sign of resilience! Wu Zongxue calls on central and local governments to work together to stabilize prices and protect ordinary people

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 庶 (shù) mean in Chinese?
庶 (shù) primarily means "(bound form) ordinary." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #4436 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 庶 have?
庶 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 庶?
The radical associated with 庶 is 广 (shelter). This radical appears in many characters related to shelter.
What are the components of 庶?
庶 is composed of: 广 (structural), 廿 (structural), 灬 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿸广⿱廿灬 with a surround-from-upper-left layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 庶?
Common words with 庶 include: 庶民 (shù mín, "the multitude of common people (in highbrow literature)"); 富庶 (fù shù, "populous and affluent"); 庶吉士 (shù jí shì, "title of the temporary position in the Hanlin Academy 翰林院 conferred on meritorious candidates until ..."); 庶出 (shù chū, "born of a concubine (rather than of the wife)"); 庶子 (shù zǐ, "son born of a concubine"). There are over 9 compound words containing this character.
Is 庶 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 庶 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 庶 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.