皮
contributes the sense of skin · Kangxi radical 107
contributes the sense of skin, hide, or a covering layer, and very often just supplies the sound pi/po/bi/bo
The old graph shows a hand holding a tool at the edge of an animal skin, in the act of peeling the hide off the body. In the modern shape you can still read the picture from the outside in: the top stroke and the hook are the loosened flap of hide, and the 又 tucked inside at the lower right is the hand doing the work. That sense of skin survives in words for wrinkled or chapped skin like 皱, 皲 and 皴; in most other characters, such as 坡, 波, 破 and 被, 皮 is there for its pronunciation rather than its meaning.
皮 at a glance
- Meaning
- contributes the sense of skin
- Strokes
- 5
- Characters
- 21
- Role
- Usually contributes sound
- Kangxi radical
- 107
Characters with 皮 (18 of 21)
HSK 3 · 1
HSK 4 · 1
HSK 6 · 4
Frequently asked questions
What does the component 皮 mean?
皮 means "contributes the sense of skin". In the characters that contain it, it usually contributes sound.
How many Chinese characters contain 皮?
21 characters in this dictionary contain 皮, including ones at HSK 3, HSK 4, HSK 5, HSK 6.
Is 皮 a radical?
Yes — 皮 is Kangxi radical 107, one of the 214 traditional indexing radicals used to organise Chinese dictionaries.
How many strokes does 皮 have?
皮 is written in 5 strokes.