What does 岁 mean in Chinese?

岁 (suì) means "years old" in Chinese. The new HSK exam expects you to recognise it at HSK 1.

How do you write 岁?

岁 is written with 6 strokes, starting from the 山 (mountain) radical and following standard Chinese stroke order (top to bottom, left to right). See the interactive stroke-order tool for the full animation.

What is the radical of 岁?

The radical of 岁 is 山 (mountain, Kangxi radical #46). Other common HSK characters using the same radical include 山.

How many strokes does 岁 have?

The Chinese character 岁 has 6 strokes.

What HSK level is 岁?

On the new HSK exam syllabus, 岁 is a character to recognise at HSK 1 and to write by hand at HSK 2 (the handwriting list HSK 1 and 2 share).

岁 (suì): Meaning, Stroke Order, Radical & Examples

岁

suì

years old

HSK 1 character 6 strokes Radical: 山 (mountain)

Quick Answer

岁 (suì) means "years old" with 6 strokes, radical 山 (mountain), HSK 1 on the new exam.

Full dictionary entry for 岁 →Animated stroke-order for 岁 →

Pronunciation

suì

Meaning

Primary: years old

Etymology

Oracle-bone origin

The oracle-bone form of 歲 shows a large axe or battle-axe blade, often with two short strokes that may represent severed feet or stride marks. Scholars read it as a pictograph of the ritual axe used in year-end sacrifices, with the stride element suggesting the passage or crossing-over of the year. The modern simplified 岁 retains none of this pictographic content; it is a drastically reduced post-1956 form built from 山 over 夕.

Form evolution

Bronze-script forms kept the axe shape clearly visible and added the 步 (stride) component above or around it, giving the seal-script 歲 its familiar structure of 止 + 戌 + 步 elements. Clerical script regularised the curves into straight strokes and locked the 戌 axe-radical into the centre. The 1950s simplification discarded the entire traditional skeleton and adopted 岁, a much older popular shorthand found in manuscripts, which has no etymological link to the axe.

How the meaning evolved

Originally 歲 named a specific year-end axe sacrifice, then by metonymy the agricultural year itself, and from there the abstract count of years. By the Han period it had taken on its modern senses of 'a year of age' and 'harvest year', and it also became the Chinese name for the planet Jupiter, whose twelve-year orbit was used to number years. Today the dominant meaning is age in years, as in 三岁 (three years old).

Cultural note

The expression 岁岁平安 (peace year after year) is a standard Lunar New Year blessing, and it is deliberately puns with 碎碎平安, said when something breaks to ward off bad luck. Learners often confuse 岁 with 年; 岁 counts a person's age, while 年 counts calendar years as a noun.

Mnemonic

Mountains at evening — years of age

Decomposition

岁=山radical+夕component

Breaking a character into its components makes it far easier to recall. Each component above links to its own detail page.

Basic info

Pinyin	suì
Meanings	years old
Stroke count	6 strokes
Radical	山 (#46: mountain)
New HSK exam	Recognise at HSK 1, write by hand at HSK 1-2
Frequency	#1427 most common