迈 (mài) · to step, to stride, to take a step

Meanings

1 to step
2 to stride
3 to take a step

Characters

迈

mài

to step; to stride

Examples

HSK 4

他迈着大步走进教室。

Tā mài zhe dàbù zǒujìn jiàoshì.

He strode into the classroom with big steps.

HSK 4

迈出第一步最难。

Màichū dìyī bù zuì nán.

Taking the first step is the hardest.

HSK 7-9

老人慢慢地迈过门槛。

Lǎorén mànmàn de mài guò ménkǎn.

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 (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 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.