迈 (mài): to step

Meanings

1 to step
2 to stride
3 to take a step

Characters

迈

mài

to step; to stride

Examples

他迈着大步走进教室。

Tā mài zhe dàbù zǒujìn jiàoshì.

He strode into the classroom with big steps.

迈出第一步最难。

Màichū dìyī bù zuì nán.

Taking the first step is the hardest.

老人慢慢地迈过门槛。

Lǎorén mànmàn de mài guòmén kǎn.

The old man slowly stepped over the threshold.

Tips

usage

迈 often appears in 迈出 (to step out) and 迈进 (to stride into). It emphasizes deliberate, purposeful movement.

memory

迈 contains 万 (wàn, ten thousand) — imagine taking ten thousand steps on a journey.

Components

radical

辶 chuò

walk; movement (radical)

Wrapping walk radical (Kangxi #162 辵 in its 3-stroke compressed form). Anchors 迈 in the motion family: to step forward, stride, advance (迈步 take a step, 迈进 march into). The wrapping radical is drawn last (the long flat right-falling stroke is its signature). Same radical in 进, 远, 道, 边.

phonetic

万 wàn

ten thousand

Inner phonetic 万 (wàn) — supplies the sound, shifting tone to mài through historical labial-nasal alternation. The simplified 迈 replaced traditional 邁's complex 萬 phonetic (the same word 'ten thousand' in its older form) with the modern simplified shape 万. Standalone 万 is among the most common large-number characters.