茅

Tap the pinyin to hear it

reeds; rushes

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HSK 3.0: Level 7–9
Strokes: 8
Radical: 艸 +5
Structure: Top–bottom 上下
Traditional: 茅
Common rank: #1,543
Unicode: U+8305

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 茅 is formed

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

艹 meaning “grass” + 矛 sound ( máo )

Components 艹矛

How to remember it

thatch · Heisig RSH #2262

flower + 矛 spear

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 茅

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
达特茅斯学院	Dá tè máo sī Xué yuàn	Dartmouth College
茅利塔尼亚	Máo lì tǎ ní yà	Mauritania (Tw)
达特茅斯	Dá tè máo sī	Dartmouth (place name)
普利茅斯	Pǔ lì máo sī	Plymouth
名列前茅	míng liè qián máo	to rank among the best
茅台酒	máo tái jiǔ	maotai (a strong spirit produced in Guizhou); CL:杯[bei1],瓶[ping2]
思茅区	Sī máo Qū	Simao, a district of Pu'er City 普洱市[Pu3 er3 Shi4], Yunnan
思茅市	Sī máo shì	Simao city in Yunnan, renamed Pu'er city 普洱市 in 2007
伯恩茅斯	Bó ēn máo sī	Bournemouth, town in southern England
拉不出屎来怨茅房	lā bù chū shǐ lái yuàn máo fáng	lit. to blame the toilet because one is having difficulty completing a bowel movement (idi…
茅坑里点灯	máo kēng lǐ diǎn dēng	(slang) (fig.) to court death (derived from 找死[zhao3 si3] via its near homophone 照屎[zhao4 …
茅塞顿开	máo sè dùn kāi	murky darkness suddenly opens (idiom); a sudden flash of insight and all is clear
顿开茅塞	dùn kāi máo sè	see 茅塞頓開\|茅塞顿开[mao2 se4 dun4 kai1]
茅山	Máo Shān	Mt Mao, Daoist mountain southeast of Jurong county 句容[Ju4 rong2], Jiangsu Province
白茅	bái máo	cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica), used as thatching material in China and Indonesia
茅台	Máo tái	Maotai town in Renhuai county, Guizhou
茅台	máo tái	maotai liquor 茅臺酒\|茅台酒[mao2 tai2 jiu3]
前茅	qián máo	forward patrol (military) (old); (fig.) the top ranks
包茅	bāo máo	bundled thatch
茅草	máo cǎo	see 白茅[bai2 mao2]

Sound family

Characters sharing the sound component 矛 — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
矛 sound part	máo	spear, lance
袤	mào	longitude; lengthwise; length
蟊	máo	Spanish fly; grain-eating grub
楙	mào	Cydonia japonica; lush