毛
contributes the sense of hair · Kangxi radical 82
contributes the sense of hair, fur, feathers, and the woolen or bristly things made from them
毛 began as a picture of a single feather or tuft of hair: a central shaft with fine strands sweeping off to one side. In the modern shape you can still read that shaft as the long hooked stroke running down and curling right, with the short slanting strokes above it as the strands branching off. Because feathers, fur and hair all look alike in outline, one graph covered them all, and it later stretched to wool cloth (毯 blanket, 氍 rug), animal hair used as bristles (笔 brush), and hair on a person's head (髦, 耄 for the white hair of great age). In 尾 it sits under 尸 to show hair hanging at the rear of a body — a tail.
毛 at a glance
- Meaning
- contributes the sense of hair
- Strokes
- 4
- Characters
- 25
- Role
- Contributes meaning
- Kangxi radical
- 82
Characters with 毛 (23 of 25)
HSK 2 · 1
HSK 6 · 1
Beyond HSK · 16
Frequently asked questions
What does the component 毛 mean?
毛 means "contributes the sense of hair". In the characters that contain it, it contributes meaning.
How many Chinese characters contain 毛?
25 characters in this dictionary contain 毛, including ones at HSK 2, HSK 3, HSK 5, HSK 6.
Is 毛 a radical?
Yes — 毛 is Kangxi radical 82, one of the 214 traditional indexing radicals used to organise Chinese dictionaries.
How many strokes does 毛 have?
毛 is written in 4 strokes.