犴 meaning and stroke order
Wild dog; jail, lock-up
How to write 犴, stroke by stroke
6 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 犴
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- used in 狴犴[bi4 an4]
How 犴 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Dog.
犭 gives the meaning and 干 hints at the sound.
Radical: 犭 (dog), shared by 88 characters on this site.
How to remember 犴
The dog radical 犭 on the left marks an animal, and 干 (gān) on the right gives the sound àn. Picture a wild dog standing guard at a jail gate.
犴 (àn) almost never appears alone in modern Chinese. It is mainly seen in 狴犴 (bì'àn), a mythical beast whose image was carved on prison gates, so the word also came to mean a jail. Example: 狴犴是传说中的神兽。(Bì'àn shì chuánshuō zhōng de shénshòu.) Bi'an is a legendary creature.
Common mistake: Learners often read 犴 as gān because of the phonetic 干, but the correct reading is àn with a fourth tone. Also do not confuse it with 犷 (guǎng, rough), which has 广 on the right instead of 干.
Questions about 犴
How many strokes are in 犴?
犴 is written with 6 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 犴 mean?
犴 (àn) means wild dog; jail, lock-up.
How do you pronounce 犴?
犴 is pronounced àn, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 犴?
The radical of 犴 is 犭, which carries the idea of "dog". Dictionaries list 犴 under this radical.
What is 狴犴 (bì'àn)?
狴犴 is a mythical animal said to be one of the nine sons of the dragon. It looks a bit like a tiger and was believed to love justice, so its face was placed on prison doors.
Do I need to learn 犴 for everyday Chinese?
Not really. It is a rare character that you will mostly meet in mythology, classical texts, or descriptions of traditional architecture. Knowing the word 狴犴 is usually enough.