猿 meaning and stroke order
Ape
How to write 猿, stroke by stroke
13 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 猿
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- ape
- variant of 猿[yuan2]
How 猿 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Animal.
犭 gives the meaning and 袁 hints at the sound.
Radical: 犭 (dog), shared by 88 characters on this site.
How to remember 猿
The left side 犭 is the animal radical, and the right side 袁 (yuán) gives the sound. Picture an animal named Yuán swinging through the trees: that is an ape, 猿 (yuán).
猿 (yuán) usually appears in compounds rather than alone, and it refers to apes such as gibbons and gorillas. A common word is 人猿 (rényuán), anthropoid ape. Example: 长臂猿住在树上。(Chángbìyuán zhù zài shù shang.) Gibbons live in trees.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 猿 (yuán) with 猴 (hóu), which means monkey. In Chinese the two are kept apart, so a gibbon is 长臂猿, not a kind of 猴子 (hóuzi). Also take care not to write the right side as 远 (yuǎn) or 园 (yuán), which share the sound but not the shape.
Common words with 猿
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 人猿 | rényuán | anthropoid ape |
Questions about 猿
How many strokes are in 猿?
猿 is written with 13 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 猿 mean?
猿 (yuán) means ape. A common word with it is 人猿 (rényuán), meaning "anthropoid ape".
How do you pronounce 猿?
猿 is pronounced yuán, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 猿?
The radical of 猿 is 犭, which carries the idea of "dog". Dictionaries list 猿 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 猿?
The traditional form of 猿 is 猨 and 蝯. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 猿 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
What is the difference between 猿 and 猴子?
猿 (yuán) means ape, an animal without a tail, like a gibbon or chimpanzee. 猴子 (hóuzi) means monkey, which usually has a tail. In everyday speech people sometimes blur them, but in biology and careful writing they stay distinct.
How do you say gorilla and chimpanzee in Chinese?
Gorilla is 大猩猩 (dàxīngxing) and chimpanzee is 黑猩猩 (hēixīngxing). Neither uses 猿, but both belong to the broader group 类人猿 (lèirényuán), the great apes.