How to Write 蜥 (xī) — Meaning “Lizard”

Imagine a lizard (虫) holding an axe (斤) to chop a piece of wood (木) — the right side 析 looks like "wood" and "axe". This silly image of a lizard chopping wood sounds like "xī" and helps you recall both the shape and pronunciation.

The left radical 虫 should be narrow and about one-third of the total width. The right part 析 is composed of 木 (wood) on top and 斤 (axe) below; a common mistake is making 虫 too wide or misaligning the top of 木 with the middle of 虫. Keep both halves balanced and write the strokes of 析 in the correct order: horizontal, vertical, left-falling, right-falling, then horizontal and vertical hook for 斤.

蜥 means lizard and uses the phonetic 析 (xī), while 蛐 (qū) appears in 蛐蛐 (cricket) and uses the phonetic 曲 (qū). 蛑 (móu) is used in 蝤蛑 (a type of crab) with phonetic 牟 (móu). The key visual difference is the right-side component: 析 vs 曲 vs 牟 — each corresponds to a different animal.

蜥 almost always appears in the compound word 蜥蜴 (lizard), and it is rarely used alone. It is not in the HSK vocabulary; you will mostly encounter it in nature-related texts, documentaries, or when describing pets. There is no special cultural symbolism for lizards in Chinese culture.

Common words containing 蜥 include: 蜥蜴 (xī yì) — Lizard; 小蜥蜴 (xiǎo xī yì) — Small lizard; 绿蜥蜴 (lǜ xī yì) — green lizard.