丹 meaning and stroke order
Cinnabar, red, vermilion; pellet, powder
How to write 丹, stroke by stroke
4 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Meaning of 丹
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- red
- pellet
- powder
- cinnabar
How 丹 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A red pellet 丶 from a mine 井.
Radical: 丶 (dot), shared by 7 characters on this site.
How to remember 丹
Picture 丹 as a mine shaft 井 with one red pellet 丶 sitting inside it. Miners dug up red cinnabar, so the dot in the shaft stands for something red.
丹 rarely stands alone in modern Chinese. It appears in set words like 牡丹 (mǔdan, tree peony), in names such as 丹麦 (Dānmài, Denmark), and in traditional medicine words for pills. Example: 春天的牡丹很漂亮。(Chūntiān de mǔdan hěn piàoliang.) The peonies in spring are beautiful.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 丹 with 舟 (zhōu, boat) or 册 (cè, volume) because the frames look alike. 丹 has only one dot and one horizontal stroke inside its frame. In 牡丹 the second syllable is usually read in the neutral tone, mǔdan.
Common words with 丹
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
丹 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 丹
Learning 丹 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 丹
How many strokes are in 丹?
丹 is written with 4 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 丹 mean?
丹 (dān) means cinnabar, red, vermilion; pellet, powder. A common word with it is 牡丹 (mǔdan), meaning "tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa)".
How do you pronounce 丹?
丹 is pronounced dān, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 丹?
The radical of 丹 is 丶, which carries the idea of "dot". Dictionaries list 丹 under this radical.
Is 丹 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 丹 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why is 丹 used in country names like Denmark and Sudan?
In these names 丹 is used only for its sound dān. 丹麦 (Dānmài) is Denmark and 苏丹 (Sūdān) is Sudan. The word 苏丹 can also mean a sultan.
What does 丹 mean in Chinese medicine or Daoist words?
It refers to a pellet or pill, especially elixirs that were once made with cinnabar. You may see it in words like 仙丹 (xiāndān), a magic pill of immortality, in stories and historical dramas.