筋 meaning and stroke order
Muscle; tendon; veins visible under the skin
How to write 筋, 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 筋
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- muscle
- tendon
- veins visible under the skin
- sth resembling tendons or veins (e.g. fiber in a vegetable)
How 筋 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. Bamboo-like ⺮ tendons in the chest 肋.
Radical: ⺮ (bamboo), shared by 149 characters on this site.
How to remember 筋
筋 (jīn) puts bamboo ⺮ on top of 肋 (lèi, ribs). Picture the tough, stringy fibers in your chest that look like strips of bamboo stretched over the ribs. Those fibers are tendons and muscles.
筋 appears mostly in compound words. It covers body tendons, visible veins, stringy fibers in vegetables, and figurative uses like 脑筋 (nǎojīn, brains). Example: 这个问题真伤脑筋。(Zhège wèntí zhēn shāng nǎojīn.) This problem is a real headache.
Common mistake: Learners often write the bottom as 肉 or 力 alone. The bottom is 肋, which is 月 with 力 beside it, so both parts must be there. Also keep the first tone: jīn, not jǐn like 紧 (jǐn, tight).
Common words with 筋
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 脑筋 | nǎojīn | brains; mind | HSK 7-9 |
| 伤脑筋 | shāng nǎojīn | to be a real headache; to find sth a real headache | HSK 7-9 |
| 抽筋 | chōujīn | cramp; charley horse | |
| 筋疲力尽 | jīnpílìjìn | body weary, strength exhausted (idiom); extremely tired; spent | |
| 钢筋 | gāngjīn | steel reinforcing bar | |
| 动脑筋 | dòngnǎojīn | to use one's brains; to think | |
| 筋骨 | jīngǔ | muscles and bones; physique |
筋 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 筋
How many strokes are in 筋?
筋 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 筋 mean?
筋 (jīn) means muscle; tendon; veins visible under the skin. A common word with it is 脑筋 (nǎojīn), meaning "brains; mind".
How do you pronounce 筋?
筋 is pronounced jīn, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 筋?
The radical of 筋 is ⺮, which carries the idea of "bamboo". Dictionaries list 筋 under this radical.
Is 筋 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 筋 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 青筋 mean when people say it shows on someone's forehead?
青筋 (qīngjīn) means the bluish veins you can see under the skin. People say 青筋暴起 (qīngjīn bàoqǐ) to describe veins bulging out from anger or strain. Here 筋 means a vein, not a tendon.
How do I say I got a cramp in Chinese?
Use 抽筋 (chōujīn). You can say 我腿抽筋了 (wǒ tuǐ chōujīn le), which means my leg has a cramp. It is common after swimming or exercise.