Meaning
(surname); Miao tribe; sprout
Chinese: 幼小植物，也可作姓氏。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “miao” becomes a different word in each tone. 苗 is the 2nd tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 苗条miáo tiao(of a woman) slim; slender; graceful
- 拔苗助长bá miáo zhù zhǎngto spoil things through excessive enthusiasm (idiom)
- 疫苗yì miáovaccine
- 苗头miáo toufirst signs; development (of a situation)
- 禾苗hé miáoseedling (of rice or other grain)
Example Sentence
春天，田里的禾苗长得绿油油的。Chūn tiān, tián lǐ de hé miáo zhǎng de lǜ yóu yóu de.In spring, the rice seedlings in the field grow lush and green.
春天Chūn tiānspring (season)，田tiánfield里lǐinside的deof禾苗hé miáoseedling (of rice or other长得zhǎng deto look (pretty, the same 绿油油lǜ yóu yóulush green的deof。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
The plant radical 艹 over a field (田): young plants growing in a field. It means ‘sprout / seedling’.
A way to remember it
Plants in a field — seedlings.
Easy to confuse with
- 田‘Field’: the same field without the plants on top.