氰 meaning and stroke order
Cyanogen; ethane dinitrile
How to write 氰, stroke by stroke
12 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 氰
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- cyanogen (CN)2
- ethanedinitrile
- Taiwan pr. [qing1]
How 氰 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Gas.
气 gives the meaning and 青 hints at the sound.
Radical: 气 (air), shared by 24 characters on this site.
How to remember 氰
氰 (qíng) puts 青 (qīng, blue-green) inside the gas radical 气, so think of it as the gas named after a blue color. 气 tells you the meaning area is gas, and 青 gives the sound.
氰 is a chemistry character. You will mostly see it in compound words for cyanide and related compounds, not on its own. Example: 氰化物有剧毒。(Qínghuàwù yǒu jùdú.) Cyanide is highly toxic.
Common mistake: Learners often read 氰 with the first tone because of 青 (qīng). The mainland standard is second tone, qíng, while Taiwan uses qīng. Also do not confuse it with 氢 (qīng, hydrogen), which uses the same gas radical but a different inner part.
Common words with 氰
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 氰化物 | qínghuàwù | cyanide |
Questions about 氰
How many strokes are in 氰?
氰 is written with 12 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 氰 mean?
氰 (qíng) means cyanogen; ethane dinitrile. A common word with it is 氰化物 (qínghuàwù), meaning "cyanide".
How do you pronounce 氰?
氰 is pronounced qíng, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 氰?
The radical of 氰 is 气, which carries the idea of "air". Dictionaries list 氰 under this radical.
Why do so many chemistry characters use the 气 radical?
Chinese chemists created characters for elements and substances that are gases at room temperature by placing a sound component inside 气. Examples include 氧 (yǎng, oxygen), 氮 (dàn, nitrogen), and 氰 (qíng, cyanogen).
How do you say hydrogen cyanide in Chinese?
Hydrogen cyanide is 氰化氢 (qínghuàqīng). Its solution in water is often called 氢氰酸 (qīngqíngsuān), hydrocyanic acid.