How to Write 瑙 (nǎo) — Meaning “Nao (agate).”

Picture a piece of agate (玛瑙) on a jade (王) table, and its colorful swirls look like the marks on a sheep's head (the right side resembles a sheep's face). The sound 'nǎo' reminds you of 'gnaw' — as if you were trying to gnaw on the hard stone.

Start with the jade radical on the left (three short horizontals and a vertical). Then write the right side: first a left-falling stroke, then a horizontal hook, a dot, and finally a vertical stroke with a short horizontal at the bottom. A common mistake is making the right side too wide or confusing it with the right side of 琅.

球 (qiú) means ball and has the radical 王 but a right side 求 with many strokes. 琅 (láng) means a kind of jade or is used in 琅琅 for reading sounds; its right side is 良 (liáng). 瑙 only appears in 玛瑙 (agate) and its right side is more compact with a diagonal top stroke.

You will almost always see 瑙 in the word 玛瑙 (mǎ nǎo), meaning agate. Agate is a popular gemstone in China, used for jewelry, carved ornaments, and sometimes in traditional medicine. The character never appears alone.

Common words containing 瑙 include: 玛瑙 (mǎ nǎo) — agate; 玛瑙红 (mǎ nǎo hóng) — agate red; 玛瑙石 (mǎ nǎo shí) — agate stone.