序 (xù): order, sequence

序 (xù) is a Chinese character meaning “order, sequence.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 广 (semantic) and 予 (phonetic). It ranks #836 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 序 wide. Its radical form 广 (shelter) appears in many related characters such as 床 (chuáng, bed), 店 (diàn, shop), 广 (guǎng, wide, broad).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. order, sequence

Etymology & Origin

序

pictophoneticwide

Decomposition: ⿸广予 (layout: surround-from-upper-left)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 序

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
程序nounchéng xùprocedures5
秩序nounzhì xùorder6
顺序nounshùn xùsequence4
有序adjectiveyǒu xùregular6
工序noungōng xùworking procedure6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
序列nounxù lièsequence
次序nouncì xùsequence
排序verbpái xùto sort
程序员nounchéng xù yuánprogrammer
序幕nounxù mùprologue
序曲nounxù qǔoverture
序号nounxù hàoordinal number
无序adjectivewú xùdisorderly
井然有序phrasejǐng rán yǒu xùeverything clear and in good order (idiom)
循序渐进phrasexún xù jiàn jìnin sequence, step by step (idiom)
序言nounxù yánpreface
秩序井然zhì xù jǐng ránin perfect order
子程序nounzǐ chéng xùsubroutine
序数nounxù shùordinal number
语序nounyǔ xùword order
79
Total compounds
14
As first character
56
As last character
30
As middle character

序 appears in 79 compound words: 14 as the first character, 56 as the last, and 30 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 序 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

秩zhì
0.72726,920 co-occurrences
握wò
0.719106 co-occurrences
掌zhǎng
0.695106 co-occurrences
顺shùn
0.62618,775 co-occurrences
画huà
0.565110 co-occurrences
程chéng
0.56397,088 co-occurrences
列liè
0.50841,086 co-occurrences
排pái
0.50426,674 co-occurrences
需xū
0.490109 co-occurrences
应yīng
0.45713,042 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (6)

公共秩序gōng gòng zhì xùHSK 6+

public order

phrase
减压程序jiǎn yā chéng xùHSK 4+

decompression schedule

phrase
井然有序jǐngrányǒuxùHSK 6+

orderly; in apple-pie order

phrase
循序渐进xúnxùjiànjìnHSK 6+

to proceed in an orderly way, step by step; to follow the established order; to make steady progress incrementally

phrase
原子序数yuánzǐ xùshùHSK 4+

atomic number

noun
秩序井然zhì xù jǐng ránHSK 6+

in perfect order

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

请按照顺序排队,不要插队,维护公共秩序。

Qǐng ànzhào shùnxù páiduì, búyào chāduì, wéihù gōnggòng zhìxù.

Please line up in order; don't cut in line and maintain public order.

99 健康网Feb 2026

...dna检查有影响吗?哺乳不会改变自身基因序列吗

. . . d n a jiǎn chá yǒu yǐng xiǎng ma ? bǔ rǔ bù huì gǎi biàn zì shēn jī yīn xù liè ma

... Does DNA testing make a difference? Doesn't breastfeeding change its own gene sequence?

99 健康网Feb 2026

...dna检查有影响吗?激素波动会改变DNA序列吗

. . . d n a jiǎn chá yǒu yǐng xiǎng ma ? jī sù bō dòng huì gǎi biàn D N A xù liè ma

... Does DNA testing make a difference? Do hormone fluctuations change DNA sequences?

BastillepostFeb 2026

...接管两运河码头 称拟诉诸国内及国际法律程序

. . . jiē guǎn liǎng yùn hé mǎ tóu chèn nǐ sù zhū guó nèi jí guó jì fǎ lǜ chéng xù

... Takeover of the two canal terminals said it intends to resort to domestic and international legal proceedings

中時新聞網Feb 2026

海纳百川》台湾在半导体新秩序下的再定位(鲁云湘)

hǎi nà bǎi chuān tái wān zài bàn dǎo tǐ xīn zhì xù xià de zài dìng wèi ( lǔ yún 湘 )

Taiwan's repositioning under the new semiconductor order (Lu Yunxiang)

百度新闻Feb 2026

谱写春日序曲!明城墙遗址公园梅花绽放

pǔ xiě chūn rì xù qū ! míng chéng qiáng yí zhǐ gōng yuán méi huā zhàn fàng

Compose a spring prelude! Plum Blossoms Bloom in Ming City Wall Ruins Park

Tatoeba

你能把这清单按字母顺序排列吗?

Nǐ néng bǎ zhè qīngdān àn zìmǔ shùnxù páiliè ma?

Could you rearrange this list so it's in alphabetical order?

Tatoeba

英国人很尊重法序和秩序。

Yīngguórén hěn zūnzhòng fǎ xù hé zhìxù.

The British have a lot of respect for law and order.

Tatoeba

我编译这个程序有些困难。

Wǒ biānyì zhège chéngxù yǒuxiē kùnnan.

I'm having some problems compiling this software.

Tatoeba

这个程序缺陷满多。

Zhège chéngxù quēxiàn mǎn duō.

This process has a lot of inconveniences.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 广 (wide) component

广 Radical Family — Characters sharing the shelter radical

Homophones — Characters pronounced xù

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 序 (xù) mean in Chinese?
序 (xù) primarily means "order, sequence." It is classified as HSK Level 4, making it an upper-intermediate character. It ranks #836 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 序 and 预?
序 (xù) and 预 (yù) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 广 vs 页 (same 予 component).
How many strokes does 序 have?
序 is written with 7 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 序?
The radical associated with 序 is 广 (shelter). This radical appears in many characters related to shelter.
What are the components of 序?
序 is composed of: 广 (semantic), 予 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿸广予 with a surround-from-upper-left layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 序?
Common words with 序 include: 程序 (chéng xù, "procedures"); 秩序 (zhì xù, "order"); 顺序 (shùn xù, "sequence"); 序列 (xù liè, "sequence"); 次序 (cì xù, "sequence"). There are over 79 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 序 (xù)?
Several characters share the pronunciation xù: 许 (to allow, perhaps), 需 (to need), 须 (must), 续 (to continue), and 1 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 序 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 序 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 序 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.