秤 meaning and stroke order
Steelyard balance; Roman balance
How to write 秤, stroke by stroke
10 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 秤
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- steelyard balance; Roman balance
- to weigh (variant of 稱|称[cheng1])
How 秤 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A balance 平 used to measure grain 禾.
Radical: 禾 (cereal), shared by 66 characters on this site.
How to remember 秤
On the left is grain 禾 (hé), and on the right is 平 (píng), meaning level or even. Picture weighing a sack of grain until the scale sits perfectly level.
秤 (chèng) is the everyday word for a scale, especially the hand-held steelyard used at markets. It often appears in words like 电子秤 (diànzǐ chèng, electronic scale) and 体重秤 (tǐzhòng chèng, bathroom scale). Example: 我们用秤称一下。(Wǒmen yòng chèng chēng yíxià.) Let's weigh it on the scale.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 秤 (chèng, the scale, a noun) with 称 (chēng, to weigh, a verb). They look alike because both have 禾 on the left, so check the right side: 平 for the scale, 尔 for the verb.
秤 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 秤
How many strokes are in 秤?
秤 is written with 10 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 秤 mean?
秤 (chèng) means steelyard balance; Roman balance.
How do you pronounce 秤?
秤 is pronounced chèng, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 秤?
The radical of 秤 is 禾, which carries the idea of "cereal". Dictionaries list 秤 under this radical.
Is 秤 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 秤 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is a steelyard, and is that what 秤 usually means?
A steelyard is a balance made of a marked bar with a hook and a sliding weight, long used in Chinese markets. Today 秤 can mean any kind of scale, including digital ones.
Can 秤 be read chēng and used as a verb?
The dictionary lists chēng as a variant reading meaning to weigh, but in modern writing that meaning is written 称 (chēng). Use 秤 for the noun and 称 for the verb.