What does 脑 mean in Chinese?

脑 is a Chinese character with the radical 月.

How do you write 脑?

脑 is written with 10 strokes, starting from the 月 (meat) 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 脑?

The radical of 脑 is 月 (meat, Kangxi radical #130). Other common HSK characters using the same radical include 服, 能, 期, 有.

How many strokes does 脑 have?

The Chinese character 脑 has 10 strokes.

What HSK level is 脑?

On the new HSK exam syllabus, 脑 is a character to recognise at HSK 1.

脑: Chinese Character Details

脑

HSK 1 character 10 strokes Radical: 月 (meat)

Quick Answer

脑 is a Chinese character with 10 strokes, radical 月 (meat), HSK 1 on the new exam.

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

Etymology

Oracle-bone origin

脑 is a phono-semantic compound rather than a direct pictograph. The left side 月 (originally 肉, 'flesh') marks the word as body-related, while the right side 𡿺 (simplified to 匘 in some forms) depicts hair above a skull or brain matter and gives the sound. The traditional form 腦 makes the skull-and-hair element clearer than the simplified 脑.

Form evolution

The character does not appear in oracle bone script, which is typical for anatomical terms coined later. By the small seal script the structure 肉 + 匘 was fixed. Clerical script flattened 肉 into the 月 radical used today, and the PRC simplification replaced the complex right component with a schematic 㐫, giving the modern 脑.

How the meaning evolved

The original meaning was the physical brain or the matter inside the skull. From the Han period onward it extended metaphorically to mean mind, thinking capacity, or the leading part of something, as in 头脑 (head, mind) and 首脑 (leader, head of state). Modern compounds like 电脑 (computer, literally electric brain) continue this extension.

Cultural note

Learners often write the right component as 囟 alone, but the standard simplified form uses 㐫; comparing 脑 with the traditional 腦 helps fix the correct shape. The word 脑筋 (brain sinews, meaning one's wits) preserves the older sense of the brain as the seat of cleverness.

Mnemonic

A body organ with wild thoughts inside — brain

Decomposition

脑=月radical+凶component+巛component

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

Basic info

Stroke count	10 strokes
Radical	月 (#130: meat)
New HSK exam	Recognise at HSK 1
Frequency	#791 most common

Example sentences

我用电脑工作。
Wǒ yòng diànnǎo gōngzuò.
I use a computer to work.
From 电脑 (HSK 1)
他摇了摇脑袋表示不同意。
Tā yáo le yáo nǎodai biǎoshì bù tóngyì.
He shook his head to indicate disagreement.
From 脑袋 (HSK 6)