涅 meaning and stroke order
To blacken; slime, black mud
How to write 涅, stroke by stroke
10 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 涅
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (literary) alunite (formerly used as a black dye)
- (literary) to dye black
- variant of 涅[nie4]
How 涅 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Water.
氵 gives the meaning and 圼 hints at the sound.
Radical: 氵 (water), shared by 467 characters on this site.
How to remember 涅
The water radical 氵 sits beside 圼, which gives the sound niè. Picture water mixing with dark earth to make black mud, the kind used long ago to dye things black.
Today 涅 (niè) appears mostly in fixed words. The most common is 涅槃 (nièpán), the Buddhist term for nirvana, and it also shows up in the old phrase 涅而不缁 about staying pure in a dark place. Example: 凤凰涅槃 (fènghuáng nièpán), the phoenix rises from its ashes.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes read 涅 as niē because they know 捏 (niē, to pinch), which shares the same right side. 涅 is fourth tone, niè, and it uses the water radical, not the hand radical 扌.
涅 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 涅
How many strokes are in 涅?
涅 is written with 10 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 涅 mean?
涅 (niè) means to blacken; slime, black mud.
How do you pronounce 涅?
涅 is pronounced niè, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 涅?
The radical of 涅 is 氵, which carries the idea of "water". Dictionaries list 涅 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 涅?
The traditional form of 涅 is 湼. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 涅 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
What does 涅槃 mean in everyday Chinese?
Besides the Buddhist idea of nirvana, 涅槃 is often used to mean a rebirth after hardship. People say a company or a person 涅槃重生 (nièpán chóngshēng) when they recover stronger after a crisis.
Can I use 涅 by itself to say "black" or "to dye"?
Not in modern speech. The meanings to dye black and black mud are literary and found in classical texts. For black, use 黑 (hēi), and for dyeing, use 染 (rǎn).