粟 (sù): surname Su, millet

粟 (sù) is a Chinese character meaning “millet.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 覀 (structural) and 米 (structural). It ranks #3700 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 粟 a millet plant 米 bearing grain 覀. Its radical form 米 (rice) appears in many related characters such as 粗 (cū, (of sth long) wide), 粉 (fěn, powder), 精 (jīng, essence).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. surname Su
  2. millet

Etymology & Origin

粟

ideographicA millet plant 米 bearing grain 覀

Decomposition: ⿱覀米 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
罂粟nounyīng sùpoppy
粟米nounsù mǐcorn
粟子nounsù zi(dialect) millet
起粟qǐ sùto get goose bumps
沧海一粟phrasecāng hǎi yī sù(lit.) one grain floating on the ocean (idiom)
包粟nounbāo sù(dialect) corn
脱粟tuō sùgrain kernel (after threshing and winnowing)
布帛菽粟phrasebù bó shū sù(lit.) cloth, silk, beans and grain (idiom)
苞粟bāo sùvariant of 包粟
粟裕sù yùSu Yu (1907-1984), PLA commander
10
Total compounds
30
As first character
70
As last character
0
As middle character

粟 appears in 10 compound words: 30 as the first character, 70 as the last, and 0 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

沧海一粟cānghǎiyīsù

drop in the ocean; drop in the bucket

phrase
布帛菽粟bùbóshūsù

food and clothing; daily necessities

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

老师教我们粟字的发音和笔顺。

lǎo shī jiào wǒ men Sù zì de fā yīn hé bǐ shùn .

The teacher taught us the pronunciation and stroke order of the character "粟."

中国新闻网·文化Sep 2026

根据碳氮硫稳定同位素的分析,先民食谱极为丰富,以粟黍农业为主,也摄入一定动物蛋白。

gēn jù tàn 氮 liú wěn dìng tóng wèi sù de fēn xī , xiān mín shí pǔ jí wéi fēng fù , yǐ Sù 黍 nóng yè wéi zhǔ , yě shè rù yī dìng dòng wù dàn bái .

According to analyses of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur stable isotopes, the diet of our ancestors was extremely varied, centered primarily on millet and sorghum agriculture, while also including some animal protein.

中国新闻网·文化Sep 2026

粟作农业到达成都平原后,呈现出由山地向平原腹地扩散的趋势。

Sù zuò nóng yè dào dá chéng dōu píng yuán hòu , chéng xiàn chū yóu shān dì xiàng píng yuán fù dì kuò sàn de qū shì .

After millet farming reached the Chengdu Plain, it began to spread from the mountainous areas into the interior of the plain.

中国新闻网·文化Jun 2026

邱建明指着图片说,光是谷物类,就有稻、麦、黍、粟、菽、麻籽等。

邱 jiàn míng zhǐ zhe tú piàn shuō , guāng shì gǔ wù lèi , jiù yǒu dào , mài , 黍 , Sù , 菽 , má zǐ děng .

Qiu Jianming pointed to the picture and said that among grains alone, there are rice, wheat, millet, sorghum, beans, and hemp seeds.

中国新闻网·文化May 2026

他希望通过这间书屋,让村民“汗滴禾下土”之余,得到“书中自有千钟粟”的另一种收获。

tā xī wàng tōng guò zhè jiān shū wū , ràng cūn mín hàn dī hé xià tǔ zhī yú , dé dào shū zhōng zì yǒu qiān zhōng Sù de lìng yī zhǒng shōu huò .

Through this bookhouse, he hopes that villagers will not only “sweat over the fields” but also reap another kind of reward—“a thousand bushels of grain lie within the pages of books.”

光明网_新闻视野、文化视角、思想深度、理论高度Mar 2026

刘海粟艺术教育思想文献展开幕

liú hǎi Sù yì shù jiào yù sī xiǎng wén xiàn zhǎn kāi mù

Exhibition of Documents on Liu Haisu’s Art Education Philosophy Opens

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 粟 (sù) mean in Chinese?
粟 (sù) primarily means "millet." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #3700 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 粟 have?
粟 is written with 12 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 粟?
The radical associated with 粟 is 米 (rice). This radical appears in many characters related to rice.
What are the components of 粟?
粟 is composed of: 覀 (structural), 米 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱覀米 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 粟?
Common words with 粟 include: 罂粟 (yīng sù, "poppy"); 粟米 (sù mǐ, "corn"); 粟子 (sù zi, "(dialect) millet"); 起粟 (qǐ sù, "to get goose bumps"); 沧海一粟 (cāng hǎi yī sù, "(lit.) one grain floating on the ocean (idiom)"). There are over 10 compound words containing this character.
Is 粟 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 粟 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 粟 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.