草 cǎo — grass, herb · English

草

cǎo

grass, herb

At a glance · 草

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Evolution of the glyph

Five stages, from a sketch of the real object to regular script — tap a stage, drag the timeline, or play the animation.

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seen
Oracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCE
Seal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCE
Clerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CE
Regular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seenOracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCESeal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCEClerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CERegular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

⚠ Some ancient forms are not attested：oracle bone form。No excavated oracle bone / seal artifact is attested for this character yet; we leave it blank rather than fabricate.

草字小篆从艸早声，为形声字；本义为草本植物、杂草。甲骨文未见。

What the sketch shows

Origins & notes

草本义为草、草类植物。

Structure

形声字，上部『艸』为意符表植物，下部『早』为声符。

At a glance

Pinyincǎo

Radical艹

Strokes10

UnicodeU+8349

Character type形声

Theme植物

Six languages, one character

Each page offers hreflang versions; switching language keeps the glyphs and meanings aligned.

English grass, herb Cao is a phonetic-semantic character meaning grass and herb.

Français herbe Cao est un caractère phonético-sémantique signifiant herbe.

Español hierba Cao es un carácter fonosemántico que significa hierba.

العربية عشب تساو حرف صوتي دلالي يعني العشب.

Русский трава Цао — фоносемантический знак, означающий траву.

Common words

草地cǎo dìgrass
草木cǎo mùvegetation

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