How to Write 茗 (míng) — Meaning “tea”

Imagine a famous (名) tea party held in a grassy garden (艹). The grass radical reminds you it's a plant, and 'ming' sounds like the name of the tea brand. This helps connect the components to the meaning 'tea.'

The top grass radical (艹) should be written wide enough to cover the bottom part 名. Make sure the strokes of 名 are centered below, especially the '口' in the middle. A common mistake is making the top too narrow, which makes the character unbalanced.

茗 (míng) means 'tea' and has the grass radical 艹 with 名 below. 兹 (zī) means 'this' or 'now' and has 艹 with 玄 below, giving it a different shape and sound. 芈 (mǐ) is a rare surname or sheep sound, written with 艹 and a vertical 半, lacking the 名 component entirely.

茗 is used in elegant or literary contexts referring to tea, such as in 品茗 (pǐn míng) 'to sip tea' or 香茗 (xiāng míng) 'fragrant tea.' It carries a refined, traditional feel and appears in tea ceremony descriptions or brand names. Unlike 茶 (chá), 茗 often suggests high-quality or specialty tea.

Common words containing 茗 include: 品茗 (pǐn míng) — to sip tea; to taste tea; 香茗 (xiāng míng) — Fragrant tea; 茗茶 (míng chá) — fine tea.