淪 meaning and stroke order
Sunk, submerged; to perish, to be lost
How to write 淪, 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 淪
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to sink (into ruin, oblivion)
- to be reduced to
How 淪 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Water.
氵 gives the meaning and 侖 hints at the sound.
Radical: 氵 (water), shared by 467 characters on this site.
How to remember 淪
淪 is water 氵 on the left with 侖 (lún) on the right giving the sound. Picture something slipping under the water and being lost, which is the core idea of sinking into ruin.
淪 is mostly used in compound words about falling into a worse state, such as 沦为 (lúnwéi), 沦落 (lúnluò), and 沦陷 (lúnxiàn). It sounds formal or literary and is common in news and history writing. Example: 这座城市在战争中沦陷了。(Zhè zuò chéngshì zài zhànzhēng zhōng lúnxiàn le.) This city fell to the enemy during the war.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 淪 with other characters sharing 侖, like 論 (lùn, to discuss) and 輪 (lún, wheel). Check the left side: water 氵 means sinking, speech 言 means discussing, and vehicle 車 means wheel.
Common words with 淪
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 淪落 | lúnluò | to degenerate; impoverished | |
| 淪陷 | lúnxiàn | to fall into enemy hands; to be occupied | |
| 淪為 | lúnwéi | to sink down to; to be reduced to (sth inferior) | |
| 沉淪 | chénlún | to sink into (vice, depravity etc); to pass into oblivion |
Questions about 淪
How many strokes are in 淪?
淪 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 淪 mean?
淪 (lún) means sunk, submerged; to perish, to be lost. A common word with it is 沦落 (lúnluò), meaning "to degenerate; impoverished".
How do you pronounce 淪?
淪 is pronounced lún, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 淪?
The radical of 淪 is 氵, which carries the idea of "water". Dictionaries list 淪 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 淪?
淪 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 沦, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Can 淪 be used on its own as a verb?
Rarely in modern speech. It almost always appears in a two-character word like 沦为 or 沉沦. On its own it feels classical.
What does 沦为 usually describe?
沦为 describes being reduced to something worse, often with a sense of pity or criticism. For example, 沦为乞丐 (lúnwéi qǐgài) means to be reduced to a beggar.