How to Write 铫 (diào) — Meaning “Small pan with a handle; pot”

Imagine a small metal pot (钅) being used to boil water, and the right part 兆 looks like the pot’s handle and spout combined. You can also think of 兆 as "omen" — when you see this pot, it is an omen that tea or medicine is coming soon.

Pay attention to the right side 兆: it has six strokes — start with two left-falling strokes on the left, then a vertical line, two short horizontals, and end with a right-falling stroke. A common mistake is writing the two left-falling strokes too close together or forgetting the last right-falling stroke.

All three characters have the metal radical 钅, but their right sides differ: 钙 has 丐 (gài), 钚 has 不 (bù). Visually, 兆 is larger and has more strokes. Meaning-wise, 钙 is the element calcium, 钚 is plutonium, while 铫 is a small pot — they have completely unrelated uses.

This character is quite rare in daily life today. You might encounter it in traditional Chinese medicine shops, where 药铫 (yào diào) refers to a small pot used to boil herbal medicine, or in some regional dialects for a small cooking pot. It is not part of standard HSK vocabulary.

Common words containing 铫 include: 铫子 (diào zi) — Small pot for boiling water or medicine; 药铫 (yào diào) — small pot for decocting medicine; 瓦铫 (wǎ diào) — earthenware pot.