How to Write 濠 (háo) — Meaning “Moat; trench”

Picture a heroic (豪) warrior standing by a water-filled trench (氵) protecting a castle. The warrior shouts, 'I am 豪 defending this 濠!' This image links the components water and hero to the moat.

This character has 17 strokes; start with the three-dot water radical on the left. Then write the right part 豪: the top is 亠 (lid), then 口 (mouth), then the pig radical 豕 with a hook at the bottom. A common mistake is forgetting the dot above the lid or making the pig's tail too long.

滕 (téng) has the flesh radical 月 on the left and means 'to rise up' or is used in surnames, while 潘 (pān) uses the water radical with 番 on the right and means 'washing water' or is also a surname. 濠 always has 豪 on the right, focusing on moats and trenches, so its meaning is much more specific.

濠 is rare in everyday speech; it appears mainly in historical texts about city defenses, such as ancient moats. The word 濠沟 (háo gōu) means ditch or trench, and 濠梁 (háo liáng) is a cultural reference to a bridge over the Hao River from a famous Zhuangzi story about fish happiness.

Common words containing 濠 include: 濠沟 (háo gōu) — Moat; ditch; trench; 濠梁 (háo liáng) — Bridge over a moat; 濠水 (háo shuǐ) — Hao River.