麻

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hemp (variant of 麻[ma2])

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HSK 3.0: Level 3
Old HSK: Level 4
Strokes: 11
Radical: 麻 itself
Structure: Upper-left enclosure 左上包
Traditional: 麻
Common rank: #405
Unicode: U+9EBB

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 麻 is formed

Ideographic compound (会意字)

Hemp plants 林 growing in a greenhouse 广

Components 广林

How to remember it

hemp · Heisig RSH #561

cave + 林 woods

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 麻

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
麻山区	Má shān Qū	Mashan, a district of Jixi City 雞西市\|鸡西市[Ji1 xi1 Shi4], Heilongjiang
白麻子	bái má zi	pockmark
亚麻子	yà má zǐ	variant of 亞麻籽\|亚麻籽[ya4 ma2 zi3]
麻城市	Má chéng Shì	Macheng, a county-level city in Huanggang City 黃岡市\|黄冈市[Huang2 gang1 Shi4], Hubei
加麻大	Jiā má dà	(slang) Canada
麻阳县	Má yáng Xiàn	see 麻陽苗族自治縣\|麻阳苗族自治县[Ma2 yang2 Miao2 zu2 Zi4 zhi4 xian4]
麻江县	Má jiāng Xiàn	Majiang, a county in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture 黔東南苗族侗族自治州\|黔东南苗族侗族自治州…
主麻日	Zhǔ má rì	(Islam) Friday, when Muslims go to the mosque before noon to attend congregational prayers
麻风病	má fēng bìng	leprosy; Hansen's disease
亚麻布	yà má bù	linen
大麻	dà má	hemp (Cannabis sativa); cannabis; marijuana
麻子	má zi	pockmark
打麻雀运动	Dǎ Má què Yùn dòng	the Great Sparrow Campaign or the Four Pests Campaign, one of the actions during the Great…
麻山	Má shān	see 麻山區\|麻山区[Ma2 shan1 Qu1]
罗布麻	luó bù má	dogbane (Apocynum venetum), leaves used in TCM
麻生	Má shēng	Asō (name); ASŌ Tarō (1940-), Japanese entrepreneur and LDP politician, prime minister 200…
天麻	tiān má	Gastrodia elata (botany)
马麻	mǎ má	(slang) mama; mom (pun on 媽媽\|妈妈[ma1 ma5])
麻花	má huā	fried dough twist (crisp snack food made by deep-frying plaited dough); worn out or worn s…
大麻哈鱼	dà má hǎ yú	see 大馬哈魚\|大马哈鱼[da4 ma3 ha3 yu2]

Sound family

These characters use 麻 as their sound component — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
麻 sound part	má	hemp, flax, sesame; numb
摩	mó	to scour, to rub, to grind; friction
磨	mó	millstone; to grind, to polish, to rub, to wear out
魔	mó	demon, evil spirit; magic, spell
靡	mí	to scatter, to disperse; to divide
糜	mí	rice gruel, congee; mashed
嘛	ma	final exclamatory particle
麽	mó	interrogative particle
縻	mí	harness, halter; to tie up