甸 meaning and stroke order
Suburbs of the capital; to govern; crops
How to write 甸, stroke by stroke
7 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
Meaning of 甸
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- suburbs or outskirts
- one of the five degrees of official mourning attire in dynastic China
- official in charge of fields (old)
How 甸 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Wrap.
勹 gives the meaning and 田 hints at the sound.
Radical: 田 (field), shared by 46 characters on this site.
How to remember 甸
Picture 勹 (wrap) curling around a field 田 (tián): the fields that wrap around the capital are its outskirts. 田 also gives the sound, so think tián turning into diàn.
Today 甸 is mostly read diàn and appears in fixed words and place names rather than on its own. The most common word is 沉甸甸 (chéndiàndiàn), meaning heavy or weighed down. Example: 袋子沉甸甸的。(Dàizi chéndiàndiàn de.) The bag is really heavy.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 甸 with 句 (jù) or 旬 (xún), which share the 勹 frame but hold 口 or 日 inside instead of 田. Also note that 沉甸甸 is said with diàn, and in casual speech the last two syllables often sound like chéndiāndiān.
Common words with 甸
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 沉甸甸 | chéndiàndiàn | heavy | HSK 7-9 |
甸 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 甸
How many strokes are in 甸?
甸 is written with 7 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 甸 mean?
甸 (diān) means suburbs of the capital; to govern; crops. A common word with it is 沉甸甸 (chéndiàndiàn), meaning "heavy".
How do you pronounce 甸?
甸 is pronounced diān, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 甸?
The radical of 甸 is 田, which carries the idea of "field". Dictionaries list 甸 under this radical.
Is 甸 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 甸 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why is 甸 listed as both diān and diàn?
The dictionary entry gives diān as the headword reading, but the listed senses and the common word 沉甸甸 use diàn. In everyday modern Chinese you will mostly meet diàn.
Where else might I see 甸?
It shows up in place names, such as 缅甸 (Miǎndiàn), the Chinese name for Myanmar. Recognizing it there is more useful than learning its old meanings about mourning attire or field officials.