猵 meaning and stroke order
Otter
How to write 猵, 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 猵
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- a kind of otter
- used in 猵狙[pian4 ju1]
How 猵 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Animal.
犭 gives the meaning and 扁 hints at the sound.
Radical: 犭 (dog), shared by 88 characters on this site.
How to remember 猵
The animal radical 犭 on the left tells you this is a creature, and 扁 (biǎn, flat) on the right gives the sound. Picture a sleek animal with a flat body sliding through the water: an otter, 猵 (biān).
猵 is a rare literary character that you will mostly meet in classical texts or dictionaries. It names a kind of otter. In modern Chinese, people simply say 水獭 (shuǐtǎ) for otter, for example: 河里有一只水獭。(Hé lǐ yǒu yì zhī shuǐtǎ.) There is an otter in the river.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 猵 with 编 (biān, to weave) or 遍 (biàn, everywhere), because all three share the phonetic part 扁. Check the left side. Only 猵 has the animal radical 犭.
Questions about 猵
How many strokes are in 猵?
猵 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 猵 mean?
猵 (biān) means otter.
How do you pronounce 猵?
猵 is pronounced biān, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 猵?
The radical of 猵 is 犭, which carries the idea of "dog". Dictionaries list 猵 under this radical.
Why does 猵 have a second reading, piàn?
In the word 猵狙 (piànjū), 猵 is read piàn. This is an old word for a kind of ape-like animal found in classical texts. Outside that word, use biān.
Should I use 猵 when talking about otters today?
No. Modern speakers say 水獭 (shuǐtǎ) or just 獭 (tǎ). Using 猵 in everyday speech would sound obscure, so treat it as a reading character only.