How to Write 苧 (níng) — Meaning “Ramie / limonene”

Picture a grassy field (艹) with a peaceful home (宁) in the middle, where farmers grow ramie plants for making cloth. The image of a calm farm helps link the plant meaning with the character's shape. Remember: 'Grass over a calm home means ramie.'

Write the top grass radical 艹 with three strokes: horizontal, vertical, and a short left-falling stroke, then close it with a right-falling stroke. The bottom 宁 starts with a dot, then a horizontal hook, then a vertical hook, and finally a horizontal stroke; make sure the bottom part is slightly narrower than the top. A common mistake is making the grass radical too wide or the bottom 宁 too tall, so keep proportions balanced.

苧 (níng) has the grass radical and means ramie or limonene, while 兹 (zī) means 'this' or 'now' and lacks the grass radical (it has two 玄). 芈 (mǐ) is a rare character used as a surname or an ancient word for 'baa' (sheep sound) and looks like 苧 but with a vertical line through the top instead of a grass radical. Visually, 苧 has the distinct 艹 top, while 芈 has a 丨 (vertical) through a 十-like shape.

苧 appears mostly in specialized terms like 苧麻 (ramie, a plant used for textile fiber) and 苧烯 (limonene, a chemical compound). It is also found in the historical place name 苧萝, associated with the famous beauty Xi Shi from ancient China. Outside of these contexts, 苧 is very rare and not part of everyday vocabulary.

Common words containing 苧 include: 苧麻 (níng má) — Ramie; 苧烯 (níng xī) — Limonene; 苧萝 (níng luó) — Zhuluo (a place name associated with Xi Shi).