硝 (xiāo): saltpeter, to tan (leather)

硝 (xiāo) is a Chinese character meaning “saltpeter.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 石 (semantic) and 肖 (phonetic). It ranks #2994 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 硝 mineral. Its radical form 石 (stone) appears in many related characters such as 石 (shí, stone), 破 (pò, break), 研 (yán, to research, to grind).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. saltpeter
  2. to tan (leather)

Etymology & Origin

硝

pictophoneticmineral

Decomposition: ⿰石肖 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

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

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
硝酸铵xiāo suān ǎnammonium nitrate
硝烟nounxiāo yānsmoke (from guns)
硝酸盐nounxiāo suān yánnitrate
硝酸nounxiāo suānnitric acid
硝酸甘油nounxiāo suān gān yóunitroglycerine
硝酸银nounxiāo suān yínsilver nitrate
亚硝酸盐nounyà xiāo suān yánnitrite
硝石xiāo shíniter
硝化棉xiāo huà miánnitrocellulose
硝酸钠xiāo suān nàsodium nitrate
亚硝酸yà xiāo suānnitrous acid
硝酸钾xiāo suān jiǎpotassium nitrate
三硝基甲苯sān xiāo jī jiǎ běntrinitrotoluene (TNT)
硝化甘油nounxiāo huà gān yóunitroglycerine
硝烟滚滚xiāo yān gǔn gǔn(idiom) smoke billows from the raging battle
23
Total compounds
61
As first character
9
As last character
30
As middle character

硝 appears in 23 compound words: 61 as the first character, 9 as the last, and 30 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

硝化甘油xiāohuàgānyóu

nitroglycerine; glyceryl trinitrate (GTN)

noun
亚硝酸盐yàxiāosuānyán

nitrite

noun

Example Sentences

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

电影中硝烟弥漫的中东城镇、戒备森严的检查站、广袤的戈壁荒漠,都在宁夏取景。

diàn yǐng zhōng xiāo yān mí màn de zhōng dōng chéng zhèn , jiè bèi sēn yán de jiǎn chá zhàn , guǎng 袤 de gē bì huāng mò , dōu zài níng xià qǔ jǐng .

The film’s scenes of smoke-filled Middle Eastern towns, heavily guarded checkpoints, and the vast Gobi Desert were all shot in Ningxia.

中国新闻网·生活Aug 2026

不过,别担心,焯水可以降低蔬菜中的亚硝酸盐含量。

bù guò , bié dān xīn , chāo shuǐ kě yǐ jiàng dī shū cài zhōng de yà xiāo suān yán hán liàng .

However, don't worry—blanching can reduce the nitrite content in vegetables.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

从餐馆内景到硝烟弥漫的城镇街道,大银幕上的“中东”,在这些棚里一寸一寸“长”出来。

cóng cān guǎn nèi jǐng dào xiāo yān mí màn de chéng zhèn jiē dào , dà yín mù shàng de zhōng dōng , zài zhè xiē péng lǐ yī cùn yī cùn cháng chū lái .

From restaurant interiors to smoke-filled town streets, the “Middle East” on the big screen is “built” inch by inch in these soundstages.

中国新闻网·生活Aug 2026

亚硝酸盐会不会超标?

yà xiāo suān yán huì bù huì chāo biāo ?

Will the nitrite levels exceed the limit?

中国新闻网·生活Jul 2026

恰恰相反,常温放置变质的水果亚硝酸盐才会成倍上升。

qià qià xiāng fǎn , cháng wēn fàng zhì biàn zhì de shuǐ guǒ yà xiāo suān yán cái huì chéng bèi shàng shēng .

On the contrary, it is when fruit is left at room temperature and begins to spoil that nitrite levels rise exponentially.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 石 (mineral) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced xiāo

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 硝 (xiāo) mean in Chinese?
硝 (xiāo) primarily means "saltpeter." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #2994 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 硝 and 悄?
硝 (xiāo) and 悄 (qiǎo) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 石 vs 忄 (same 肖 component).
How many strokes does 硝 have?
硝 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 硝?
The radical associated with 硝 is 石 (stone). This radical appears in many characters related to stone.
What are the components of 硝?
硝 is composed of: 石 (semantic), 肖 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰石肖 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 硝?
Common words with 硝 include: 硝酸铵 (xiāo suān ǎn, "ammonium nitrate"); 硝烟 (xiāo yān, "smoke (from guns)"); 硝酸盐 (xiāo suān yán, "nitrate"); 硝酸 (xiāo suān, "nitric acid"); 硝酸甘油 (xiāo suān gān yóu, "nitroglycerine"). There are over 23 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 硝 (xiāo)?
Several characters share the pronunciation xiāo: 消 (to diminish), 销 (to melt (metal)), 削 (to peel with a knife), 宵 (night). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 硝 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 硝 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 硝 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.