苗 (miáo) · seedling, sprout, young plant

Measure Word

一棵苗 kē

Meanings

1 seedling
2 sprout
3 young plant

Characters

苗

miáo

seedling; sprout

Examples

HSK 5

这些树苗需要浇水。

Zhèxiē shùmiáo xūyào jiāoshuǐ.

These tree seedlings need watering.

HSK 7-9

春天到了，地里长出了嫩苗。

Chūntiān dào le, dì lǐ zhǎng chū le nènmiáo.

Spring has come, and tender seedlings have sprouted in the fields.

Tips

usage

苗 often appears as a suffix in compound nouns: 树苗 (tree seedling), 禾苗 (grain seedling), 疫苗 (vaccine - literally 'epidemic seedling').

Components

radical

艹 cǎo

grass; plant (top radical)

Top grass radical in its compressed three-stroke form - two crossed sprouts. Indexes 苗 in the vast botanical family with 花, 草, 茶, 菜. The radical tells you immediately that 苗 names something green and growing.

semantic

田 tián

field; paddy

Bottom 田 - pictograph of a cultivated field divided into plots. Pure semantic role: grass over field gives the precise picture of seedlings sprouting in a paddy. That farming scene is the literal etymology, which then extends to 'young of any kind' - 苗 covers seedlings, hatchlings, and metaphorical buds.