秒 (miǎo) — HSK 4 Recognition Character: Meaning, Radical & Stroke Order

miǎo a second; a corn kernel; measure word for time 9 strokes · Radical 禾 (cereal) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)

👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 秒 when reading — handwriting it is not required (that applies to the 150 writing characters). The stroke animation below is optional but helps memory.

Pronunciation & meaning

Pronounced miǎo.

a second
a corn kernel
measure word for time

Stroke Order & Practice

Click Animate to see the correct stroke order, then Practice to trace it yourself.

秒 — 9 strokes, numbered in writing order. 笔顺图（数字为下笔顺序）。

Decomposition

秒 breaks down into 2 components arranged as Left + Right. Recognizing the components makes the character easier to remember and write.

秒 =

禾 left cereal

少 right few

Radical

The radical of 秒 is 禾 — meaning cereal. Radicals are the indexing components used in Chinese dictionaries; they often hint at a character's broad meaning category.

Other HSK 4 characters that share this radical: 程科积稍秀.

How the character is built

秒 is a phono-semantic compound. The semantic component 禾 (grain) carries the meaning, while the phonetic component 少 originally indicated the sound.

HSK 4 Words Containing 秒

秒 miǎo second (unit of time)

他只用了十秒就跑完了。

Tā zhǐ yòng le shí miǎo jiù pǎo wán le.

He finished the race in only ten seconds.

FAQ

What does 秒 mean in Chinese?

秒 (miǎo) means a second; a corn kernel; measure word for time. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 秒 have?

秒 is written in 9 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 秒?

The radical of 秒 is 禾 (cereal). Other HSK 4 characters with the same radical include 程, 科, 积, 稍, 秀.

What is the pinyin for 秒?

秒 is pronounced miǎo.

What HSK 4 words use 秒?

In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 秒 appears in 1 word, including 秒 (miǎo). See the full list above.