禽 meaning and stroke order
Birds, fowl; to capture; surname
How to write 禽, 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 禽
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (bound form) birds; fowl
- (literary) birds and animals
- old variant of 擒[qin2]
How 禽 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A legendary beast 离 captured by a man 人.
Radical: 禸 (rump), shared by 6 characters on this site.
How to remember 禽
Picture a person 人 standing on top of a legendary beast 离 they have just captured. That is the hint behind 禽 (qín): creatures that people catch, which came to mean birds and fowl.
禽 is a bound form, so it almost always appears inside words like 家禽 (jiāqín, poultry), 猛禽 (měngqín, bird of prey) and 禽兽 (qínshòu, birds and beasts). Example: 鸡和鸭都是家禽。(Jī hé yā dōu shì jiāqín.) Chickens and ducks are both poultry.
Common mistake: Learners often use 禽 alone to mean "bird" in speech. Say 鸟 (niǎo) instead and keep 禽 for set words. Also don't confuse it with 擒 (qín, to capture), which has the hand radical 扌 and is the normal modern way to write "capture."
Common words with 禽
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 家禽 | jiāqín | poultry; domestic fowl | HSK 7-9 |
| 禽兽 | qínshòu | birds and animals; creature | |
| 猛禽 | měngqín | bird of prey |
禽 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 禽
Learning 禽 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 禽
How many strokes are in 禽?
禽 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 禽 mean?
禽 (qín) means birds, fowl; to capture; surname. A common word with it is 家禽 (jiāqín), meaning "poultry; domestic fowl".
How do you pronounce 禽?
禽 is pronounced qín, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 禽?
The radical of 禽 is 禸, which carries the idea of "rump". Dictionaries list 禽 under this radical.
Is 禽 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 禽 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why is 禽兽 used as an insult?
禽兽 (qínshòu) literally means birds and beasts. Calling someone 禽兽 or saying they are 禽兽不如 (worse than a beast) means they behave inhumanly, so it is a strong insult.
What is the difference between 禽 and 鸟?
鸟 (niǎo) is the everyday word for bird and works on its own. 禽 (qín) sounds more formal or technical and is used in compounds, especially for fowl and poultry, such as 家禽 and 禽流感 (qínliúgǎn, bird flu).