殓 meaning and stroke order
To dress a corpse for burial
How to write 殓, stroke by stroke
11 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 殓
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to prepare a dead body for coffin
How 殓 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Corpse.
歹 gives the meaning and 佥 hints at the sound.
Radical: 歹 (corpse), shared by 29 characters on this site.
How to remember 殓
The left part 歹 (dǎi) is the bone and death radical, so it tells you the meaning relates to the dead. The right part 佥 (qiān) gives the sound, which drifted to liàn, so picture the family gathered to tend to the deceased.
殓 (liàn) appears mostly in formal or written words about funerals, such as 入殓 (rùliàn, to place a body in a coffin) and 殓葬 (liànzàng, to dress and bury). Example: 明天上午入殓。(Míngtiān shàngwǔ rùliàn.) The body will be placed in the coffin tomorrow morning.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 殓 (liàn) with 敛 (liǎn, to collect or restrain), which shares the 佥 part and a similar sound. In the past 敛 was sometimes used for this meaning, but today funeral words use 殓 with 歹, and the tone is fourth, not third.
Questions about 殓
How many strokes are in 殓?
殓 is written with 11 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 殓 mean?
殓 (liàn) means to dress a corpse for burial.
How do you pronounce 殓?
殓 is pronounced liàn, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 殓?
The radical of 殓 is 歹, which carries the idea of "corpse". Dictionaries list 殓 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 殓?
The traditional form of 殓 is 殮. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 殓 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
What does 入殓 mean and when is it used?
入殓 (rùliàn) means placing the dressed body of the deceased into the coffin. It is a specific step in a traditional Chinese funeral and often appears in obituaries and funeral schedules.
What is the difference between 大殓 and 小殓?
In traditional funeral customs, 小殓 (xiǎoliàn) is washing and dressing the body. 大殓 (dàliàn) is the later step of laying the body in the coffin.