How to Write 脲 (niào) — Meaning “urea”

Imagine the left part 月 as a crescent moon, and the right part 尿 as a picture of urine flowing down. So think "moon turns into urine to make urea" — the moon (月) above the water (from 尿) creates the idea of urea.

Pay attention to the right side 尿: first write 尸 (three strokes: horizontal fold, horizontal, left vertical), then 水 (left vertical hook, horizontal, right vertical, and bottom left-right). A common mistake is making the 水 part too wide, so keep it narrow and balanced with the left 月.

The key difference is the right component: 脲 has 尿 (urine) on the right, 朐 has 句 (sentence) on the right, and 朔 has a different right part that looks like a reversed '北'. Visual clue: 脲's right side has a '尸' on top and '水' below, while 朐 has a '勹' wrapping '口'.

脲 is a scientific and technical term, mainly used in chemistry and materials science. You will see it in words like 脲素 (urea fertilizer) or 聚脲 (polyurea coatings), but almost never in everyday conversation — it is a specialized character for textbooks and industry.

Common words containing 脲 include: 脲素 (niào sù) — urea; 聚脲 (jù niào) — polyurea; 脲醛 (niào quán) — urea-formaldehyde.