巾 meaning and stroke order
Cloth, curtain, handkerchief, towel
How to write 巾, stroke by stroke
3 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
Meaning of 巾
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- towel
- general purpose cloth
- women's headcovering (old)
- Kangxi radical 50
How 巾 is built
Pictographic character. A curtain or towel hanging from a rack.
How to remember 巾
巾 is a picture of a cloth hanging from a rack. The frame 冂 is the hanging fabric, and the line 丨 down the middle is the rod or hook it hangs from.
On its own 巾 is rare in modern speech. It mostly appears in compound words for cloth items, like 毛巾 (máojīn) towel, 围巾 (wéijīn) scarf, and 纸巾 (zhǐjīn) tissue. Example: 请给我一张纸巾。(Qǐng gěi wǒ yì zhāng zhǐjīn.) Please give me a tissue.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 巾 (jīn) with 币 (bì, currency), which has an extra stroke on top, and with 市 (shì, market), which has a dot and a horizontal line on top. Also keep the tone first and level. It is jīn, not jǐn as in 紧 (jǐn, tight).
Common words with 巾
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
巾 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 巾
Learning 巾 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 巾
How many strokes are in 巾?
巾 is written with 3 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 巾 mean?
巾 (jīn) means cloth, curtain, handkerchief, towel. A common word with it is 毛巾 (máojīn), meaning "towel".
How do you pronounce 巾?
巾 is pronounced jīn, in the first tone (high and level).
Is 巾 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 巾 is part of the HSK 4 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 3.
What does 巾 mean when it appears inside other characters?
As a component, 巾 usually points to cloth or fabric. You can see it in characters like 布 (bù, cloth), 帽 (mào, hat), and 帘 (lián, curtain).
Why does 巾帼 (jīnguó) mean women?
巾帼 originally referred to a woman's headdress in ancient times. Over time it came to stand for women themselves, often in praise, as in 巾帼英雄 (jīnguó yīngxióng), a heroine.