女 Component
nǚ · woman; female
Look for 女 inside new characters. It often points toward woman or female, so you can guess the meaning family before memorizing the full character.
How to Use It
Use the component as a reading move, then confirm the full character.
Spot 女
Find the repeated shape before trying to memorize the whole character.
Use the meaning clue
Treat 女 as a hint toward woman; female.
Check the rest
Use the remaining parts for the specific meaning or sound, then confirm on the character page.
Read the Pattern
Start with the shared clue, compare what changes, then try the same move on more characters.
Shared clue
usually points toward woman; female.
女 gives the broad meaning family. The rest of the character can narrow the meaning, supply a sound hint, or simply complete the word.
mā
mother
tā
she
hǎo
good
jiě
elder sister
mèi
younger sister
yào
want
Words You Can Read Next
Move from single characters into vocabulary. The component clue helps recognition; the word page gives context and examples.
女 Component FAQ
Common questions about using 女 as a Chinese character component.
What is the 女 component in Chinese characters?
女 (nǚ) is a Chinese character component meaning "woman; female". On HanziStroke it is taught as a meaning clue, with 75 related characters available for stroke order practice and vocabulary study.
Is 女 a radical or a component?
女 can be part of a character structure. A radical is the dictionary indexing component, while a component is any meaningful or phonetic building block inside a character. This page focuses on 女 as a learning pattern.
How does 女 help me remember characters?
Use 女 as a family or person clue, but remember that some older character meanings reflect historical usage rather than modern values.